


ARC-V Different Dimension

by MomoKiseki



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Canon Divergence, Fix-it fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:08:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 77,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26812684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MomoKiseki/pseuds/MomoKiseki
Summary: Three years ago the famous Dueltainer Yusho Sakaki went missing right before his duel with the Sledgehammer. His son, Yuya, was devastated by his father's disappearance and pushed himself to be an amazing performer like his father. One day he gets the chance to prove to the world that the Sakaki's aren't cowards and unlocks a summoning method no one had ever seen before! From there Yuya is dragged into an adventure of chaos and confusion across five different dimensions!---My first ever AO3 Fanfic ^^ More tags may be added as I get the hang of using AO3 lolIncludes my own interpretation of a Ritual Dimension, plus a few minor and major alterations to ARC-V's original timeline.
Relationships: Rin/Yugo (Yu-Gi-Oh), Yuto/Lulu Obsidian, Yuya Sakaki/Zuzu Boyle
Comments: 23
Kudos: 26





	1. Scale 1 - Miraculous Light

Back and forth, back and forth. The light glinted off the blue, crystal pendulum as it swung slowly in front of soft, crimson eyes.

_ Swing Pendulum. More and more.  _ The boy thought to himself, letting a small smile cross his lips as the necklace swung.

Somewhere in the back of the boy’s mind he registered the sound of his friend talking to him. But he was highly unmotivated to respond, he’d rather distract himself like this than listen to the same things repeatedly.

“Yuya! Yuya, are you even listening!?”

Yuya tried not to groan in response, that would likely earn him a slap from his best friend’s fan…and he’d prefer to avoid that – if possible. He glanced over at the girl next to him, her blue eyes narrowed in irritation and her face flushed from the many attempts to get Yuya to listen to her.

“Yeah, I’m listening” Yuya said calmly, swinging the Pendulum in such a way that he catches the pendant with the same hand he’s holding the string in.

“Oh? What was I talking about then?”

Yuya smirks.  
“Well, why don’t you repeat it? And I’ll see if I’m right?”

She huffs irritably, folding her arms.  
“You weren’t listening at all…” she then groans “I was saying that we need to plan our duel for the open day, this is our chance to get the You Show Duel School some more students!”

“Yeah, I know…” Yuya replied, the smirk on his face growing wider “I’ve been… _entertaining_ a few combos that should really dazzle our audience!”

Zuzu groaned, she stood up and brushed part of her pink hair aside looking down at her tomato haired best friend.

“You mean make them wonder why they bothered to watch?” 

“Come on Zuzu!” Yuya argued, standing up “My Dueltaining performances are great!”

“There’s a difference between making the crowd laugh _with_ you and making the crowd laugh _at_ you” Zuzu replies bluntly “You really need to start taking duelling more seriously Yuya and stop acting like a clown!”

“I mean, I think the crowd’s having a blast” Yuya huffs, pulling out his phone to check the time “Anyway, we can talk more later Zuzu. I have a duel with Gong today”

“As long as you don’t turn _that_ into a joke as well!” she follows after him as he walks “Compared to your dad’s duels these are just embarrassing!”

Yuya freezes, biting his lip. His father…Yusho Sakaki. The pioneer of Dueltaining, the brand of duelling where entertainment and showmanship are key. Where the hammier the performance, the better…

And Yusho Sakaki wasn’t just the one who started it all, he was the best Dueltainer out there…

“Whenever your dad was duelling, everyone was laughing and smiling like there wasn’t a care in the world” Zuzu continued “He stirred a joy in their hearts Yuya, pure joy. The crowd laughed with him not at him. You’re not doing his name any good by acting like a clown and playing the fool”

Yuya looked down slightly, before he forced a smile and looked back at Zuzu. 

“Well, I’d say the crowd laughed at him in the end” he said in as calm a tone as he could muster. He acted surprised at Zuzu’s angry glare “What? Its not like he’s here, he can’t really be offended”

Yuya turned back and put his hands behind his head as he walked. Yusho Sakaki, the world’s first and greatest Dueltainer…and he’d been missing for three years. He vanished right before a duel to defend his champion title…

“Yuya…” Zuzu eventually just shook her head “Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever understand you”

Yuya didn’t think she would either.

\----------------------------------------------

“No, that’s that!”

Yuya and Zuzu frowned as they neared their school, what was going on in there? Zuzu looked deeply concerned.

“That’s my dad…”

“What’s got Principal Boyle all riled up?” Yuya muttered pushing the door open and peeking inside “Principal Boyle…?”

Skip Boyle, Zuzu’s father and the Principal of the You Show Duel School, was currently engaged in a rather…heated conversation with a man dressed in a yellow and black suit. Yuya frowned, raising an eyebrow. The man looked…familiar somehow but off the top of his head the fourteen-year-old simply couldn’t remember.

“Yuya, Zuzu! I didn’t expect you here so soon!” Skip comments, seeing the two children. His gaze returns to their guest and hardens “Don’t worry about Mr. Smiley here, he was just leaving”

The man – Mr. Smiley apparently (oddly enough the name was familiar too) – bowed respectfully.

“Well, if that’s what you wish Mr. Boyle, but had you agreed the Leo Institute would have given you the latest ARC System for free as thanks” Mr. Smiley said “But I understand completely…”

Skip’s expression twitched, the You Show Duel School’s ARC System – that is the Augmented Reality Combat System, used for dueling – had been on the fritz for the last few weeks and Skip simply couldn’t afford to replace it. 

Without a properly functioning ARC System duelling and more specifically Action Duelling, were quite the challenge, if completely impossible. So of course, the offer of a free ARC System had Skip’s conscience doing backflips as it argued the pros and cons.

Yuya looked visibly confused.  
“Principal Boyle? What’s going on?”

Mr. Smiley walked over.  
“Ah! You must be young Yuya Sakaki!” he says offering his hand “The name is Nico Smiley, pleasure to make your acquaintance”

Yuya shook his hand as the gears turned in his mind, Nico…Nico…oh!

“Wait, Nico Smiley as in the commentator for the ARC League Championships?” Yuya asked.

Nico nodded in response, clasping his hands together with a smile that had Yuya thinking he was constantly planning something.

“The one and only, but I’m not just a mere commentator. It’s a little-known fact that I am in fact the manager of the Pro Circuit Champion. The Sledgehammer!”

“The…Sledgehammer…” Yuya echoed, his eyes wide.

_ That’s the guy my dad was supposed to duel… _

“Ah, yes you have a bit of history with him, don’t you?” Nico asked, but in a way that made it clear he already knew “well not you exactly, but more like the Sakaki name has history with him, which in fact is why I’m here!”

Zuzu walked up next to Yuya, a stern look on her face.  
“If my dad said no to…to whatever it is you want, then the answer is no! Get out!”

“But it concerns Yuya” Nico replies “And shouldn’t _he_ be allowed to make this decision himself?”

“I don-” Zuzu starts only to be silenced by Yuya raising his hand.

“Wait. Let him talk, I at least wanna know why the heck the Sledgehammer’s manager is hanging around my father’s duel school”

“Ah, a wise young boy” Nico smirks “Well, I came here with an opportunity! Yuya Sakaki, three years ago your father disappeared right before his duel with the Sledgehammer, the crowd was…undeniably upset by this turn of events”

Yuya resisted the urge to roll his eyes, yes, he knew this already. No need to be reminded of what very quickly became a constant source of teasing and bullying in Yuya’s life.

“However, I don’t suppose you remember what you did in response do you?”

“What I did?” Yuya echoed, scrunching his features up as he searched his memories for the answer, he was only eleven years old at that point in time so it was no surprise his memories were a little fuzzy.

He remembered running down the stairs to yell at the Sledgehammer. In fact, he was pretty certain that he offered to duel the Sledgehammer until his dad showed up…

“Uh, yeah vaguely, I guess. I’m pretty sure I challenged the guy”

“Well, I want to offer you an opportunity to fulfil that challenge. The Leo Institute is hosting an open day where they show off their newest model ARC System and the Sledgehammer was asked to host an exhibition match!” Nico’s smile got inherently more scheming as he spoke “He has officially extended a challenge to you – Yuya Sakaki – to take him on in the LID duel stadium to try prove to him and everyone else that the name Sakaki is not synonymous with ‘coward’”

Yuya went silent…so wait, the Sledgehammer…was challenging him to a duel?! Why in the world would the freaking _champion_ of the pro circuit challenge a duelist from the Youth Division?! Even if he was Yusho’s son, it’s not like Yuya’s duelling stats were all that impressive! They were fairly average actually, what exactly possessed the Sledgehammer to want to challenge him!?

_ No, no this has got to be some sick joke or something…yeah, this Nico guy is just pulling my leg!  _ Yuya thought to himself, trying to come to some logical conclusion.

“Win or lose, the Leo Institute is willing to give your duel school a free ARC System if you agree to this challenge. The newest model of course. The decision is yours Yuya, but I will want an answer by tomorrow” Nico hands the still stunned Sakaki boy a card “Now, I should take my leave. I have many other things I need to attend to today, good day all!”

Yuya’s eyes followed Nico as he walked out of the building before he looked down at the card in his hand. A business card of course, with a number to contact him…

The door swung open again, Yuya instantly put the card away before he sees the familiar sight of his best – male – friend. 

“…Who’s the guy in the fancy suit?” He asked, before looking at Principal Boyle “Gong didn’t expect anyone fancy like that to be here today”

“Don’t worry about it Gong” Skip responds, “You and Yuya should get on with your duel!”

“Gong agrees!” Gong quickly heads off to the duel stadium before glancing back at Yuya “are you coming?”

Yuya blinked, looking up and plastering a smile on his face.  
“Of course Gong! Just give me one minute!” 

He slips his bag off his shoulder and places it on the couch. Pulling his Duel Disk out of it and strapping it on his wrist. 

_ Should I agree to this duel?  _ He thought to himself as he set up his deck, _it feels like some kind of trick…there’s no way I could beat the Sledgehammer…_

_ “He has officially extended a challenge to you – Yuya Sakaki – to take him on in the LID duel stadium to try prove to him and everyone else that the name Sakaki is not synonymous with ‘coward’” _

Coward.

That word had been thrown around a whole lot since his dad vanished, usually directed at him…

“Yuya”

The teen instantly smiled, turning his gaze to the Principal.  
“Sorry! I was thinking!”

“I know” Skip replied, “And I’ll bet it was about what that Smiley guy said right?”

Yuya’s eyes darted away from Skip, looking at anything and everything else. The floor seemed pretty interesting today…

“Don’t listen to that Nico guy” the Principal said putting a hand on Yuya’s shoulder “This whole ‘challenge’ is probably just some way to get more press coverage, why else would they invite a youth division duelist instead of a pro? Don’t let it get to you!”

“But…what about that free ARC System?” Yuya asked, glancing over at the booth Zuzu was using to control the ARC System “Don’t you guys want it?”

“Well of course I do Yuya” Skip chuckles “but you come before any ARC System! Your wellbeing is most important”

“But I don’t even need to win!” Yuya quickly grabs the pendant hanging from his neck and looks down “I just have to accept the challenge”

“No, Yuya. This won’t end well, just forget it okay?”

Yuya sighed and nodded.  
“Alright then Principal Boyle” he glanced in the direction of the duel stadium then sighs “Do you mind if we hold off today’s duel for a bit? I’m not feeling a hundred percent”

“Of course, Yuya, you go get some fresh air. I’ll let the others know to wait for a while! Besides, more time for Zuzu to get the ARC System online!”

Yuya smiled gratefully, before he slipped outside pulling his goggles over his eyes. Maybe a walk would do him some good. Yuya honestly wished he could agree with Principal Boyle so easily, ignore everything Nico said and pretend he’d never been challenged but it just wasn’t possible to him.

“What do I do…?” He muttered, going to the bridge overlooking the water around Paradise city, he leans on the railing staring out through his orange tinted goggles.

Looking through the blue star that covered his right lens only made him think more about his father. About the duel school. About the opportunity this presented.

Sure, he was worried about losing and honestly believed he would. It was clear he wasn’t the only one who thought that too since Principal Boyle seemed adamant to not even allow Yuya to know about the offer.

But even so…

What if he won? Yuya Sakaki, a Youth Division duelist and the son of the greatest Dueltainer that duel monsters had ever seen…beating the current champion. Wouldn’t that be a shock?

Yuya sighs, thinking about the ‘What ifs’ is fine but it’s hardly realistic. He pulls his pendulum off of his neck and let it hang in front of his eyes, swinging the object back and forth slowly.

Right.

_ On one hand…If I lose, it’ll give everyone more reason to believe my dad was scared. They’ll probably take my loss as proof my dad couldn’t have beaten the Sledgehammer…  _

Left.

_ On the other hand, if I win, I’ll prove to everyone that the name Sakaki is one to be proud of. Nobody would be able to make fun of me for my dad anymore, they’d have to believe me when I say my dad wasn’t a coward… _

Right.

_ No matter what, You Show will get a new ARC System. So really, there’s no way to lose on that point. _

Left.

_ But…do I risk losing, all to prove a point?  _

Yuya groaned, staring out over the water.  
“Dad…I wish you were here. You could tell me what to do…you always knew what to do…”

He closed his eyes, thinking back to a time before his father vanished…to the one lesson that had always stuck with him.

_ “Try to laugh when you feel like crying and when things get tough, respond with a smile. It will give you the strength to keep moving forward”  _

Yuya drew his gaze back to his Pendulum, watching it swing back and forth.

_ “The more you push a pendulum, the more it will come back to you. The same concept can be applied to dueling” _

“Dueling…” Yuya muttered, before a smile crossed his lips as he echoed his father’s words “You won’t get anywhere if you stay frozen in fear. Have the courage to move forward and no matter what happens, things will always swing your way again”

He pulls his goggles off his eyes, letting them rest on his head. Fighting the tears that threatened to spill out. He let the Pendulum swing a few more times.

_ Swing Pendulum, more and more… _

Yuya hangs the Pendulum around his neck and gains a determined expression. He knows exactly what he has to do now…

\--------------------------------------------

“I cannot believe Yuya agreed to this” Zuzu huffs.

It was a few days later and they were at the LID Duel Stadium. Much to everyone’s irritation Yuya had accepted the challenge. 

“…Well, at least no matter what You Show gets a new ARC System” Skip comments before flinching as his daughter raised her fan “I mean…uh…I wish Yuya hadn’t agreed to this!”

Zuzu huffs loudly, putting her fan away.  
“That’s what I thought”

Gong folds his arms watching as the rest of the crowd files in.  
“Well, Gong hopes Yuya wins” he comments.

“You think he’ll actually show up?” Zuzu asks nervously.

“Gong’s sure he will. Gong saw the look in Yuya’s eyes when he told us he accepted the challenge” Gong smiled “Gong’s sure he’ll be here”

_ “Attention audience!”  _ The familiar voice of Nico Smiley echoed around the stadium.

“Here we go…” Skip muttered.

_ “Today’s exhibition match is one for the history books! Today our champion, the Sledgehammer will be facing the son of Yusho Sakaki! Who will win? Only one way to know for sure!” _

“Hah, this is going to be a sweep for the Sledgehammer” someone in the crowds commented.

Zuzu bit her lip and looked around, most people were discussing how easily the Sledgehammer was going win. She clenched her fists but kept her opinions to herself.

_ Yuya, you’d better kick this guy’s butt… _

_ “This duel will be conducted using Action Duel Rules!”  _ Nico announced happily, holding a card up to the sky _“So! Without further ado, I play the action field ‘Castle of Chaos!’”_

The field slowly appears in the stadium, a huge castle, with a moat and forest around it. Nico smiles proudly.

_ “This is the absolute wonder of the ARC System and the newest model!”  _ He adds that last bit with a hint of cheekiness in his voice _“So, to introduce our combatants! First – it’s the man you’ve all been cheering for! The champion of the pro circuit! The one, the only, the Sledgehammer!!”_

A man stepped out from the top of the castle, arms folded as he started down at the entrance to the arena, waiting for his opponent. Nico waited as the crowd roared in excitement before finally silencing them.

_ “Next up! The son of the world’s first and greatest Dueltainer! Here with something to prove – Yuya Sakaki!”  _ he gestured to the entrance of the arena…where Yuya didn’t appear to be _“Uh…Yuya? That’s your cue!”_

“Bet he chickened out like his old man” 

Zuzu turned to bite back at whoever had said that only to be stopped by Gong.  
“But Gong! Listen to what they’re saying!”

“Gong hears them Zuzu” He replies, before pointing to the top of the castle “But they can’t see what Gong sees”

Behind the Sledgehammer there was someone dressed in a ridiculous clown costume, leaning against the wall of the castle making stupid faces. Zuzu narrows her eyes.

“…Don’t tell me…”

The crowd slowly starts to notice the clown and starts yelling at the Sledgehammer to turn, confused the champion does so.

“What the…who in the world…?” He huffs “Don’t tell me you’re Yusho’s little brat!”

The clown – definitely Yuya – bows mockingly. The Sledgehammer huffs irritably.

“Is that how you respect the Champion?!”

Yuya hums in thought before removing the mask he was wearing and tossing it to the side, he bows again winking.

“I apologise for my rudeness _champion_ ” he responds, “Allow me to make up for it with a duel!”

Yuya holds his left arm up, the duel disk on it lights up as it activates forming the yellow Solid Vision blade. He smiles widely, staring the Pro down.

“You ready to duel Sledgehammer?”

The pro angrily sets up his own duel disk, glaring at Yuya.  
“You little punk! Know your place!” he shouts, “I’ll show the skills that made me champion!”

Yuya snickers at this statement, drawing five cards as he waits for Nico to announce the start of the duel.

_ “Well this was unexpected! Both duelists appear ready so…feast your eyes on the latest and greatest evolution of duelling! Action…” _

“ **Duel!** ” Yuya and the Sledgehammer shout.

Nico snaps his fingers and a group of cards are scatter throughout the action field.

_ “Action Cards Dispersed”  _ a robotic voice intoned.

**_ Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _ LP: 4000 _

**_ The Sledgehammer  
_ ** _ LP: 4000 _

“Why don’t you go first, only fair that the underdog gets every chance he can”

Yuya chuckled.  
“Oh, _how generous_ ” He suddenly runs past the Sledgehammer jumping onto some kind of zip line “I’d love to stick around but I’ve really gotta dash! To help with that I summon _Performapal Hip Hippo_!”

The hippo appears right as Yuya jumps off the zip line, meaning Yuya lands perfectly on his monster’s back. He smirks at the Sledgehammer and waves.  
“Come and get me!”

He ends his turn with that and charges off, his eyes constantly scanning the environment around him.

Gong huffs.  
“Why is he running away!?”

“I don’t think he’s running Gong” 

Skip, Zuzu and Gong turn seeing a woman walking up behind them. Skip blinks in surprise.  
“Oh, Yoko”

“Mrs. Sakaki?” Zuzu asks “What do you mean?”

“Just watch and have faith in Yuya” Yoko responds, “He may surprise you.”

The Sledgehammer draws while glaring Yuya down.  
“You little brat, you can run from me but there’s nowhere in this action field for you to hide!” he slides a card into the slot on his duel disk “I activate the spell _Feast of the Wild LV 5!_ I can special summon two level 5 warrior-type monsters from my hand with their effects negated!”

Yuya bites his lip, already knowing where this was going. The Sledgehammer places two monsters down on his duel disk and they quickly appear on the field.

“I summon _Swamp Battleguard_ and _Lava Battleguard_! But they aren’t sticking around! I tribute both to special summon my _Battleguard King_!”

“Thought as much…” Yuya muttered, returning his gaze to the path in front of him.

“Battleguard King! Attack his hippo!”

Hip Hippo squeaks in response to this, picking up speed as the far, _far_ larger monster swings its club down. Yuya shoots a look to the incoming attack then jumps off of Hip Hippo’s back and swipes a card in one of the trees sliding it into his duel disk.

When the smoke clears Hip Hippo is fine, much to the Sledgehammer’s distaste. Yuya smiled, climbing back onto his monster’s back.  
“Just before your attack hit, I activated the Action Spell _Miracle_! Saving Hip Hippo from destruction and halving the damage I took!”

**_ Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _ LP: 2900 _

“You’ll have to try harder than that _champion_!” Yuya smirks and charges off with Hip Hippo again. The monster looked at him relieved and thankful making Yuya chuckle “Eyes on the prize Hip Hippo, but no worries”

Hip Hippo nods and focuses on keeping away from Battleguard King.

_ Little brat… _ the Champion thought to himself.

“Well, as long as Battleguard King was Tribute summoned with at least 1 Battleguard monster it can attack twice this turn!”

Yuya gasped in surprise as Battleguard King swung its club towards them again, his eyes darted around before seeing a card on the bushes.  
“Hip Hippo over there!”

The Hippo nods and charges towards it, Yuya quickly scoops it up and slides it into his duel disk.  
“I play the Action Spell _Evasion_! Negating your attack!”

Hip Hippo is surrounded by white energy and suddenly picks up speed, completely missing the club. It turns back to face the Battleguard King for a second, poking its tongue out. Yuya laughed, watching the opposing monster begin to look greatly irritated.

“Oh, dear Sledgehammer! Looks like Battleguard King has some anger issues!” Yuya jokes.

The champion raises an eyebrow, oblivious to how his monster was reacting. He slides a card into his duel disk.  
“I set one card face down and end my turn!” he grits his teeth “You may know how to use Action cards well Sakaki but professionals go beyond that. Take your turn”

“Will do tall, dark and ugly!” Yuya shouts back before drawing his card. His eyes widened.

_ Odd-Eyes! Perfect!  _

He slips the monster into his hand for now, smiling at Hip Hippo. He rides his Hippo to a high point of the field and clears his throat.

“ _Ladies and Gentlemen!_ ” he announces, stretching the words out in a theatrical way “Welcome to the Sakaki Spectacular!”

Zuzu blinks in surprise, looking at Yoko.  
“Yuya seems pretty confident”

“Of course,” Yoko replies “this is his big moment Zuzu, he’s spent the last three hiding behind the mask of a clown and now he gets show the world what he’s really made of”

Zuzu turned her eyes back to her best friend, the huge – and unforced – smile on his face and the confidence he was giving off.

“Hopefully, he’s made of something good then” She says at last.

Yuya glances at the Sledgehammer before turning to the crowd.

“You see my wonderful assistant here, Performapal Hip Hippo?” he starts, gently tapping his monster’s head “Well, he’s quite the little trickster so when I need to Tribute summon I can count Hip Hippo as two monsters!”

Hip Hippo squeaks in response before running to the edge of the platform and leaping off, it exploded into pixels leaving Yuya in freefall. He quickly tore away the remainder of his clown costume and pulled his monster from his hand.

“I special summon! One of the wonders of the dragon world!” the remaining pixels form back together into a red dragon, its green and red eyes lighting up “My _Odd-Eyes Dragon_!”

Yuya lands on his dragon’s back, turning his focus onto the Sledgehammer.  
“Come on Odd-Eyes, lets swing into action!”

Skip’s eyes widen, a smile crossing his face.  
“Yuya…used his father’s catchphrase…”

Zuzu fiddled with her bracelet, running her hand along the gem.  
“Come on Yuya…”

“You little brat, using your father’s catchphrase!” Sledgehammer yells “You’re a coward just like him.”

Yuya bites his lip, before contacting the Sledgehammer through the duel disks.  
“My father wasn’t a coward” He says “And I’ll prove it! I’m going to use each and every move my father taught me to take you down!”

The Sledgehammer smirks through the call on his screen, looking extremely confident.  
_“Check your monster’s attack points Sakaki, my Battleguard King has 3000 that pathetic excuse for a dragon can’t even touch it”_

Yuya glances to his side a little, where the ARC System quickly pulled up a hologram of his Odd-Eyes’ stats.

_ Level 7 – ATK: 2500 _

Yuya smiles, glancing back at the Sledgehammer.  
“We’ll see about that” he turns off the communication and slips a card into his duel disk “I activate the spell card _Wonder Balloons!_ ”

A multi-coloured box appears in front of Yuya, much to the Sledgehammer’s confusion. Yuya quickly taps Odd-Eyes on the head.  
“Come on Odd-Eyes, this way!”

The dragon takes off, following Yuya’s command. In seconds Yuya had found an action card – and promptly sent it to his graveyard.

“What in the world are you doing?!” The Sledgehammer yelled.

Yuya glanced back at him and winked as he found and sent a second action card to his graveyard.

“You’ll see! Just be patient!” Yuya quickly grabs a third one and holds it up, “The spell card wonder balloons has a pretty neat effect! To activate it I need to send spell cards to the graveyard”

“What…?”

Yuya slips the third card into his duel disk, sending it to his graveyard.  
“Isn’t it a good thing that Action Cards can be spells?” He asks with a smirk “Now, Wonder Balloons go! For every spell card I sent to the graveyard a balloon will appear, I sent three so look! Your Battleguard King has some balloons to play with!”

Three coloured balloons appeared by the monster, who stopped and stared at them in confusion. Yuya hums thoughtfully before a sly smile crosses his face.

“Of course, they aren’t staying here” He comments “See, when I send Wonder Balloons to the graveyard your monster’s attack points drop by 1000 for each balloon!”

He snaps his fingers and the image of the spell bursts into pixels and the three balloons all pop, when the smoke clears Battleguard King is restrained by multi-coloured balloons. Yuya smirks widely.

“So, since Battleguard King has 3000 attack points and I just popped three balloons, its attack points drop to zero until the end of my turn! So much for your king Sledgehammer”

The crowd cheered in excitement, slowly understanding what Yuya had been doing all duel. Sledgehammer had begun to realise too…

“I see, so you weren’t running away…you were finding the locations of the Action Cards since you can’t have more than one in your hand at a time”

Yuya nodded, grabbing the string of his Pendulum necklace and holding it up a little, letting it swing back and forth.

“Let’s just say, I’ve always had a knack for finding things”

The crowd’s cheers grow louder and Yuya lets his pendant go, looking around the stadium. His smile slowly grows wider.

_ This must be how my dad felt every time he was duelling…the roar of the crowd…all their smiling faces… _ he shuts his eyes and inhales slowly _this is what my dad loved about duelling…_

“let’s see if we can’t get the crowd really going. Huh, Odd-Eyes?” Yuya asked, gently rubbing his dragon’s head. 

“Battle!” He announces “Guess what Sledgehammer? When Odd-Eyes attacks and destroys your monster, you’ll take damage equal to half of Battleguard King’s original attack points!”

He glances at the crowd, looking more and more confident.  
“Since Battleguard King had 3000 attack points prior to Wonder Balloons’ effect Odd-Eyes’ ability will deal you 1500 points of damage! But that’s not all Sledgehammer, I’m sure that even with a brain your size you can work out what will happen once your monster is destroyed!”

The Sledgehammer’s eyes widened as what Yuya was saying sunk in, he gasped.

“Wait…Since my Battleguard King’s attack points are currently zero I’ll take 2500 points of damage from Odd-Eyes’ attack, plus the 1500 from its ability and…”

“4000 points of damage” Yuya finishes “You lose Sledgehammer! Odd-Eyes Dragon attack Battleguard King! **_Spiral Flame!_** ”

A crimson stream of fire launches from his dragon’s mouth, it races towards the opposing monster and upon making contact a huge explosion occurred. Yuya’s eyes light up, he had to have won, there was almost no way the Sledgehammer could’ve survived that move…

Almost. 

The smoke clears and Battleguard King remains, still trapped in the balloons. The Sledgehammer smirks at Yuya’s shocked face.

“A professional is always ready for anything, so I kept this little baby in my corner just in case! The Action Spell Miracle!” He laughs “If this is all Yusho Sakaki’s duelling style can manage maybe he had good reason to be scared of me!”

Yuya grits his teeth and backs Odd-Eyes up, eyes never leaving the champion. The Sledgehammer taps the screen of his duel disk activating the trap that he’s had set the whole duel.

“I play the trap card, _Battleguard Rage_! Because I took damage this turn, I can choose one Battlguard I control and give it 2000 extra attack points! I select my Battleguard King!”

Yuya inhales shakily, great that was his best strategy…he didn’t have anything else he could do this turn…he’d have to hope he drew something useful next turn.

“I end my turn” He says quietly “Because my turn is now over, Wonder Balloons’ effect wears off”

Battleguard King’s attack points sore from 2000 all the way to 5000, the balloons gripping it exploding into pixels. Sledgehammer laughs, drawing a card to start his next turn.

“Yuya Sakaki, this is the beginning of the end for you!” He points towards the Sakaki boy “Battle! Battleguard King, attack his Odd-Eyes Dragon!”

Yuya gasped, quickly shouting at his Dragon to run. Odd-Eyes complies, turning around and racing towards a distant action card. 

“You won’t escape!” The Sledgehammer shouts.

Yuya reaches out to the action card only to be knocked flying by Battleguard King’s club destroying his Odd-Eyes. Yuya yelps as he hits the ground, pushing himself to his feet slowly. His eyes darted to the holographic screen that showed his life points dropping.

**_ Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _ LP: 400 _

“Thanks to Battleguard Rage however, your little dragon retreats to your hand instead of the graveyard. Now I play the spell _Battleguard Magic_ to help restore my lifepoints equal to half of Odd-Eyes’ attack points!”

Yuya bit his lip as the Sledgehammer’s life points rose straight back up to 4000…that whole turn had suddenly become worthless.

“I can only attack monsters twice with Battleguard King so you’re safe for now Sakaki. I place one card face down and end my turn” he smirks “go on, draw Yuya or you can surrender like the coward you are. Run away like your father”

“I’ll never run! Not from a bully like you!” Yuya shouts before his eyes dart down to his hand.

_ Damn, all monsters…what do I do…?  _ He grips the pendulum hanging around his neck, _its hopeless, I’d need a miracle to beat him this turn…do I even have what it takes to be like my dad…?_

Yuya shuts his eyes, gripping the pendulum tighter. Tears were threatening to spill out, what could he do? How could he win? If he didn’t beat the Sledgehammer this turn it was game over…

_ “Try to laugh when you feel like crying and when things get tough, respond with a smile. It will give you the strength to keep moving forward” _

Yuya forced a smile remembering his father’s word. He let go of his pendant, inhaling slowly to calm his racing heart. 

_ “The more you push a pendulum, the more it will come back to you. The same concept can be applied to duelling.” _

Yuya placed a hand on his deck, picturing the swinging pendulum in his mind.

_ “You won’t get anywhere if you stay frozen in fear. Have the courage to move forward and no matter what happens, things will always swing your way again” _

“Alright then…” Yuya whispers “You’ve pushed me right back into a corner, so its time for me to come swinging back...”

The Sledgehammer watches him, amused by this child who still seems to think he can win. He doesn’t notice the faint glint of blue light that’s starting to come from Yuya’s Pendulum.

Yuya opens his eyes and, in as bold a voice as he can muster, declares:

“Swing Pendulum!” and pulls the card from his deck with surprising fierceness.

Suddenly the blue aura around his pendant grows stronger, it almost starts to swing back and forth by itself its light growing intense and overwhelming. Yuya stared at the card he’d just drawn, _Timegazer Magician._

Then he looks to the cards in his hand, _Stargazer Magician, Performapal Whip Snake, Performapal Sword Fish_ and Odd-Eyes Dragon.

The same blue light seems to radiate around his Timegazer, Stargazer and Odd-Eyes. He blinks in surprise as he sees the cards change right before his eyes. An odd feeling overcomes him…as if just _knows_ how to win now. What he needs to do…

He takes two of his transformed cards and holds them out.  
“I’m setting the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and my Scale 8 Timegazer Magician! I’m taking control of this duel – starting now!” He places Stargazer on the far right and Timegazer on the far left of his duel disk. 

As the two cards are put in their place the word ‘Pendulum’ lights up on his disk in rainbow, capital letters.

Both monsters rise into the air behind Yuya, surrounded by pillars of light as elegant versions of the numbers ‘1’ and ‘8’ appear underneath them. Yuya’s eyes narrow into a serious stare.

“I can now summon any number of monsters between the levels of 2 and 7 simultaneously!” Yuya raises his hand to the sky as an enlarged version of his Pendulum necklace swings between Stargazer and Timegazer.

“Swing far pendulum! Carve the arc of victory!” a portal opens up and three rays of light shoot down from it “ **I Pendulum Summon!** Snap to it, Performapal Whip Snake! Slice and dice, Performapal Sword Fish! Turn up the heat, _Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!!_ ”

Nico stares in disbelief.  
_“P-Pendulum Summon…?”_ he mutters _“What in the world just happened?!”_


	2. Scale 2 - Pendulum?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuya's new Pendulum summon causes a huge stir, meaning he's got to pretend he remembers how it works...

Zuzu had been utterly floored when the duel inevitably reached its climax. She shot multiple looks between Yoko, Gong and her father, then back to Yuya. Hoping someone could explain what was going on!

Of course, nobody could. She found her eyes drawn to the two monsters: Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician. She’d never seen them like this before, floating in the air above Yuya with the ARC System projecting an enlarged version of the teen’s pendulum necklace to swing back and forth between them.

“…what in the world did Yuya just do…?” Skip whispered finally.

“…I…have no idea” Yoko admitted “but whatever it is…it got the crowd stunned”

\------------------------

“Sir! You should see this!” a staff member calls to a man a little way away.

The man glances back, adjusting his glasses.  
“Is it important?”

“It may be sir” she replies “A high level summoning signal has been detected at the seafront! We don’t recognise it”

The man raises an eyebrow and walks over, curiosity in his eyes.  
“Analyse it. Now”

The staff member nods and begins typing on her computer. A few others do as well, before finally she gasps.  
“Sir, the computer is reading it as ‘Pendulum’ energy”

“…Pendulum?” the man asks, “Can you locate its exact location?”

“Already done sir” A man replies “It’s the Leo Corporation’s Seafront Stadium”

The man looks genuinely shocked, he crosses his arms thoughtfully.  
 _The seafront stadium? Isn’t that Exhibition match happening there right now?_

“Patch me into the video feed of whatever duel is currently taking place”

“On it!”

Soon enough the screen lit up with the image of Yuya’s duel. The man frowned.  
 _That boy looks familiar…_

\--------------------

“H-How!? How were you able to summon all those monsters, including a high level one without tributing!?” The Sledgehammer gasped, before looking up at Nico “That can’t be allowed!!”

_“It appears that the Duel Disk has accepted the summon, its completely legal!”_

Yuya looks to Odd-Eyes, its form had shifted a lot from its older form. Looking far more powerful. Odd-Eyes lowers itself down a little, moving its head in a kind of ‘come on’ gesture. Yuya nods and climbs on his dragon’s back before looking right at the Sledgehammer.

“I activate Performapal Whip Snake’s special ability!” Yuya announces, the confident and serious tone in his voice feeling…odd compared to how he usually speaks “It can switch the attack and defence points of your monster! Go for it Whip Snake!”

The snake nods in response before swinging the metronome that hung from its tail, Battleguard King stepped back and dropped to its knees right in front of the Sledgehammer, the holographic screen showing its attack points changing to 1100.

Yuya nods then gestures to his other monster.  
“Performapal Sword Fish’s special ability now activates!”

Sword Fish materializes six copies of itself and blasts them at Battleguard King, the six Sword Fish land in the ground around Battleguard King.

“You see, Performapal Sword Fish can reduce the attack of your Battleguard King by 600 for the rest of this turn!”

 _“Look at that! Yuya looked like he was about to lose but suddenly he’s managed to cut down Battleguard King’s attack points all the way from 5000 to 500!”_ Nico announced excitedly _“Can you believe it?”_

Yuya stares Sledgehammer down, he holds his hand out and announces determinedly:

“Battle! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks Battleguard King!”

Odd-Eyes lets out a mighty roar and rears up, its eyes starting to glow and the orbs around its body follow.

The Sledgehammer grits his teeth.  
“I won’t let you! I activate the trap card _Battleguard Howling_! Your monster is returned to your hand and you’ll take damage equal to its attack points!”

Yuya doesn’t even flinch, he looks up at Timegazer Magician.  
“Timegazer Magician! Master of time! Protect me with your ethereal powers!”

Timegazer nods and holds his hand out, a golden blade like object extended out from his gloves. The image of a clock appears in front of him and reverses.

“Thanks to Timegazer’s Pendulum Ability, once per turn I can negate the activation of one trap card that targets a Pendulum monster and re-set it! Go! _Infinity Gear Reverse!_ ”

Sledgehammer gasps as his trap is re-set and turns, running for an action card. He swipes it and activates it.  
“I activate the action spell Evasion!”

Yuya shakes his head and turns his gaze to Stargazer Magician.  
“Stargazer Magician! Master of space! Seal my enemies with your ethereal powers!” he chants “Stargazer’s Pendulum ability can negate the activation of spell card once per turn! Go! _Halting Horoscope!_ ”

Stargazer nods and holds his staff out, the circle on it lighting up with the image of a constellation. Negating Evasion and setting it on the Sledgehammer’s field.

“…Damn it! I need another one!” Sledgehammer announces, running off to find another.

Yuya narrows his eyes.  
“Now, lets go Odd-Eyes! Light up your dual-coloured eyes and lay waste to our opponent!” Odd-Eyes runs forward and leaps into the air, fire building up in its mouth “ ** _Spiral Flame Strike!!_** ”

Odd-Eyes unleashes a dark red beam from its mouth and Battleguard King intercepts with its club. The Sledgehammer grits his teeth and shouts:

“Hah! I’ll still beat you next turn!”

“Actually, there will be no next turn” Yuya responds “Because Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon’s special ability will now activate! Because its battling a monster that’s level 5 or above any battle damage it deals will be doubled!”

“D-Doubled!?”

The orbs all over Odd-Eyes glow and an orange plume of fire surrounds the first stream, charging right towards Battlguard King.

“ ** _Reaction Force!!_** ”

The attack very quickly overwhelms Sledgehammer’s monster, pushing it back till it bursts into pixels. The attack hits the ground by the champion sending him flying, Odd-Eyes lands on the ground lowering its head to allow Yuya to climb off.

Yuya slides off and dusts himself off, looking over at the Sledgehammer as his life points hit zero.

“The end” Yuya says calmly.

A holographic portrait of Yuya pops up, reading ‘WIN – Yuya Sakaki’.

The ARC System dissolves around them, leaving just the banner at the top of the stadium reiterating Yuya as the winner. The crowd is absolutely silent.

Zuzu looks to Gong.  
“…Gong…did…did Yuya just win?”

“Yeah…” Gong replied before smiling “So let’s go congratulate him!”

Yuya suddenly shakes his head, blinking a few times as if he were in a trance. He holds a hand to his head then notices the Sledgehammer on the ground.

“…What the…? What happened?” he looked around a bit more, then notices his mother, Skip, Zuzu and Gong cheering and calling out to him.

“You won! Great job Yuya!” Yoko shouts.

Yuya blinks, the crowd suddenly erupts in cheers. He fiddles with his pendant, feeling extremely uncomfortable.  
 _I won…?_

Nico runs over and holds a mic to Yuya.  
“Congratulations on your victory Yuya! That was certainly an impressive match!” he then smiles “Can I ask for you to introduce this new summoning method that allowed you your victory?”

Yuya narrows his eyes a little, trying to process what he was being asked through the fog that still seemed to be sitting over his mind.

“…What…?” he mutters “Summoning…method?”

\------------------------------

The next day a silver-haired teenager was walking through the halls of the Leo Institute’s building, the same man who had been informed of Yuya’s initial Pendulum summon. Another man in a suit is following behind him with a tablet.

“What have you found out?” the teen asks.

“Well President, we’ve identified that the Exhibition match between The Sledgehammer and the duelist Yuya Sakaki was indeed the source of the Pendulum energy”

“I thought the boy looked familiar, Yuya Sakaki. Yusho’s son.” He glances back at his assistant “Tell me more”

“Well, he’s still a youth division duelist, his win record is actually pretty average. Around 50%.”

“Would it be a stretch to say that Yuya is a student at the You Show Duel School?”

“No, sir. You’re absolutely correct. Based on the stats of the other duelists at that school its safe to say he’s probably one of their best duelists” the assistant explains “I’ve reviewed the duelling footage and footage of the events afterwards and Yuya appears to be unaware of this ‘Pendulum Summoning’ he performed”

“Unaware?”

“Yes sir, despite appearing to understand it completely during the duel he seemed confused every time Nico or another reporter asked about it and attempted to deflect the question. I’m not sure if this is an act or if he is legitimately unaware of how he performed this summon”

The President frowns.  
 _First his father vanishes and now Yuya comes out with a new summoning method and is completely oblivious to how he performed it…strange things are coming our way, I fear._

“I want you to do a background check on Yuya, report to me if you find out anything, _anything at all_ , that may be related to Pendulum Summoning. No matter how trivial it may be”

“As you wish”

\-------------------------

“Ally, Frederick!” Zuzu announces seeing the small red-haired girl and the blonde-haired boy walking over to her “We’ve got a mess of people who suddenly want to apply to You Show, could you handle them? I’ve gotta go talk to Yuya!”

Ally smiles.  
“Don’t worry Zuzu! We’ll handle this!”

“Ya! Besides, if you’re gonna get Yuya to show off that new Pendulum summon we need to give you time to get ready!” Frederick adds.

Zuzu chuckles.  
“I’m going to try” she sighs, rubbing the back of her head “He’s been acting strange since yesterday…”

She walks off and sees Yuya, as she had left him, staring at one of his cards.

“Yuya! Are you planning to join us in the real world anytime soon?” She asks.

Yuya blinks and looks up, smiling awkwardly. She notices the card in his hand is his ace monster.

“Sorry Zuzu…I’m just…distracted”

“Why do you keep staring at Odd-Eyes D- I mean, Odd-Eyes _Pendulum_ Dragon?” she asks, correcting herself.

“That’s exactly why I’m staring at it Zuzu” Yuya responds “Because it’s a Pendulum dragon now…”

“Speaking of Pendulum Yuya” she glances out to the crowd of people slowly coming towards them “I was thinking we should show it off a little”

“I’d really love to Zuzu bu-”

“Let’s see it!” A boy shouts.

The group suddenly starts chanting ‘Pendulum’ over and over, Yuya’s face growing progressively redder as they do. Zuzu nods enthusiastically.

“Then let’s go Yuya!” she grabs his arm to start pulling him towards their duel field, Yuya pulls away “Yuya?”

“Zuzu, I really want to but…I really can’t…” he looks back down at Odd-Eyes “I don’t remember how”

“W-What?” she mutters before lowering her tone to a whisper “You…you don’t remember? How is that possible?”

Yuya shrugs.  
“I…don’t know…” he whispers back “I just…I can’t remember, everything after I drew my card on that last turn is a blur to me”

Zuzu notices the crowd beginning to look irritated, she folds her arms thoughtfully.  
“Well, lets try anyway.” She decides eventually “Maybe it’ll come back to you while we’re duelling!”

“And if it…doesn’t?” Yuya asks.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it”

Yuya sighs then eventually nods, a smiling crossing his face.  
“Alright Zuzu, you’re on!”

Yuya follows Zuzu into the duel field and clears his throat. A spotlight appearing above him.  
“ _Ladies and Gentlemen!_ ” Yuya announces “Welcome to the You Show Duel School! Please, feast your eyes on the amazing duel we have in store for you!”

Zuzu smiles widely and joins in.  
“Let’s begin with the action field _Plain Plain!_ ”

As their brand-new ARC System activates, the grassy field and pond form around them. Yuya holds his left arm out as his Duel Disk activates. Zuzu follows, her pink blade forming.

“Ready for a duelling spectacular that’s bound to blow your minds?” Yuya calls to the crowd.

“We’ll duke it out on the field, monsters at our sides!” Zuzu continues.

“We’ll see who wins in this battle of skill!”

“Prepare for the greatest evolution of duelling! It’s time to Action…”

Then both duelists face each other and announce:

“ **Duel!** ”

“I think I’ll go first!” Yuya announces, placing a monster onto his duel disk “I summon Performapal Hip Hippo!”

“Hey! Yuya can ride around to find action cards on that Hippo!” a girl in the crowd shouts.

Yuya turns to them and smiles, nodding.  
“Hey, look the crowd really knows how I play!”

A blue haired boy is staring silently, watching to see how the duel is going to go. Yuya leaps onto Hip Hippo cheerfully.

“I’ll end my turn for now Zuzu! Come on Hip Hippo! Let’s ride!”

Hip Hippo charges off so Yuya can search for an action card. Zuzu huffs.

“I won’t let you get a single one!” She announces “My move! Draw!”

She glances at her card and smiles widely.  
“I summon _Aria the Melodious Diva!_ Battle! Aria attack Hip Hippo! **_Piercing Note!_** ”

Aria sings a condensed sound wave at Yuya, who smirks, scoops up an Action card and slides it into his duel disk.

“I play the action spell, Evasion to get my Hippo rolling out of the way!” Yuya announces as Hip Hippo spins through the air away from the attack “So much for not letting me get any action cards Zuzu!”

Zuzu smirks back at him.  
“Just because your Hippo is safe, doesn’t mean your life points are!” she replies “Aria’s special ability activates! Because my attack failed, you’ll take 800 points of damage! **_Resonating Wave!_** ”

Aria launches a second shockwave attack, this one knocks Yuya and Hip Hippo flying till they’re both sprawled out on the ground.

 **_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 3200_

Yuya groans rubbing the back of his head. He glances to the side seeing Hip Hippo looking at him worriedly.

“I’m okay Hip Hippo” he says quietly, smiling at it “How about you?”

The monster squeaks cheerfully in response, before its eyes return to Aria. Zuzu ends her turn and smiles, waiting patiently.

“Oh right, focus on the duel. Sorry” Yuya jokes in response before he notes that the crowd is chanting ‘Pendulum’ over and over “…guess they want my Pendulum summon already…”

“Exactly Yuya!” Zuzu replies “So stop talking and start remembering!”

Yuya stood up and drew a card, smiling when he saw his Timegazer Magician.  
 _Okay…I mean, it can’t be that hard to remember…_ he stares at his hand _its nearly identical, the only missing card is Stargazer…but based on those arrows, I don’t think I need Stargazer right now. Now…what did I do on TV?_

He placed Timegazer on one end of his duel disk and Odd-Eyes on the other, before clearing his throat.

“Its time! **I Pendulum Summon!** ” Yuya announces before putting Performapal Whip Snake and Performapal Sword Fish onto the duel disk.

The duel disk suddenly makes a noise and a message reading ‘ERROR’ appears on his screen, Yuya frowns in confusion.  
“…Hey uh…Sword Fish? Whip Snake?” he whispers, “why aren’t they coming out?”

He takes them off his duel disk before putting them back on but only receives another error message. Yuya looks up to Odd-Eyes and Timegazer.

 _They’re in those lights behind me…so, I should be able to summon Sword Fish and Whip Snake…somethings…wrong…am I missing something?_ Yuya wonders to himself _I know I was in a jam…so…oh!_

He clears his throat again before winking to the audience, keeping his confident persona up.  
“I end my turn. Zuzu, attack me”

Zuzu blinks in confusion.  
“Uh…you _want_ me to attack you?” she asks “…uh…alright then”

She draws and holds out a monster from her hand.  
“Because I have another Melodious Monster on my field, I can special summon this monster from my hand! Come on out, _Sonata the Melodious Diva_!” she smiles “Now that I have two monsters, I can tribute them both! Go on ladies!”

The two monsters twirl around holding hands before they burst into green sparkles, the sparkles form back together into Zuzu’s next monster.  
“I summon! _Mozarta the Melodious Maestra!_ ”

Yuya nods confidently, watching his best friend’s moves. Hip Hippo looks up at him a great deal more concerned than before.

“Don’t worry Hip Hippo, I got this” Yuya whispers, winking at his monster.

Hip Hippo does not agree.

“I activate Mozarta’s special ability! I can special summon another Melodious Diva from my hand! I summon a second Aria the Melodious Diva!” Zuzu points to Hip Hippo “First! Aria the Melodious Diva attacks Performapal Hip Hippo!”

Hip Hippo squeaks in shock and looks panicked as Aria attacks. The monster is destroyed and Yuya’s life points drop down to 2400. Zuzu smiles widely.

“Next! Mozarta the Melodious Maestra! Attack Yuya directly! **_Graceful Wave!_** ”

Mozarta opens up her wings and they glow with piano keys as she attacks. Yuya smirks confidently.

 _Good, now I’m in a pinch!_ Yuya places Sword Fish and Whip Snake on his duel disk.

“ **I Pendulum Summon!** ” he announces…only to get another Error message “Wait…what? Why aren’t my Pendulum Cards working!?”

He’s unable to process what’s happening because Mozarta’s attack sends him flying, ending the duel.

\------------------

“Uhm, you mentioned Pendulum Cards in the duel” a boy starts “what are those?”

Yuya – looking rather dejected from his failure to Pendulum summon – pulls his deck out.  
“Well, that’s just what I’ve been calling them.” He admits “I don’t know if that’s actually what they’re called, I just figured they look different to other cards so…”

“Can I look?” Zuzu asks.

Yuya nods and hands his deck to her, she compares Timegazer Magician with her Aria the Melodious Diva.  
“Huh…they do look different”

“So, can you not Pendulum summon without them?” the boy continues.

A girl suddenly speaks up.  
“That’s not fair, did Pendulum summoning even exist in the first place?”

Yuya opens his mouth to reply but is cut off by another boy loudly commenting:

“I bet Yuya cheated. Otherwise he’d never have beaten the champion”

“Yeah, he really is the son of a coward!” Another girl comments.

The crowd begins to leave, Yuya tries to protest that he’s no cheater but he can’t form the words. Eventually he gives up trying and pulls his goggles down over his eyes, walking away.

“Yuya…Yuya don’t listen to them!” Zuzu calls.

Yuya ignores her, he stays silent until he hears a boy yell towards the crowd.

“Yuya is no cheat!”

The teen turns and see the same blue haired boy who’d been watching the duel earlier. The boy turns to him, his eyes filled with determination.

“You’d never cheat Yuya! You beat the Sledgehammer fair and square! Those kids don’t understand!”

Gong walks up behind the boy, putting his hands on his shoulders.  
“Yuya, does it upset you that your first fan is sitting here defending you when you should be doing it yourself?” He asks “Because its frustrating Gong”

“First…fan…?” Yuya mutters in response.

Ally nods.

“Yeah! This is Tate! He’s been coming in to watch your duels for ages now, but he was way too nervous to speak to you!”

“Then he saw your duel against the Sledgehammer!” Frederick continued.

Tate’s eyes lit up.

“Yuya! Your duel against him was amazing! You’re incredible, you had the courage to stand up and duel a pro, heck, he’s the champion and you took him without fear!” he said excitedly “It was so cool, you brought everyone together through one duel! I want to duel like you one day!”

Yuya froze, looking down. A small smile crossed his face.

“…It was amazing.” He whispers “It was better than I’d ever imagined…I’d love to do that again”

Gong smiles.

“Yuya, Gong saw you in that duel. You’ve proved how much fire you have, don’t tell Gong you’re gonna run away again after all that!”

Yuya gritted his teeth. He grabbed his Pendulum necklace, shutting his eyes tight. Was he really going to run now? After all that effort? After showing the world what he was really made of…was he going to run and hide?

“Yuya, Gong says you need to do your absolute best, for your fans and for yourself too”

Ally and Frederick nod in agreement and start cheering.

“Go on Yuya! Show them what you got!” Ally announces.

“Ya! And Tate wants to join the You Show Duel School! So, we have to celebrate!”

Tate giggles before taking Yuya’s deck from Zuzu and walking over to the taller boy. He holds Yuya’s deck out to him.

“Yuya, can you show me how to Pendulum summon once you master it?”

Yuya stares at him, then smiles widely. Pulling his goggles up. He takes his deck back.

“Thanks Tate” then he winks “And of course I will! As an entertainer I can’t let my fans down!”

The group cheers at his enthusiasm. Zuzu glances at Gong and they nod at each other. Yuya would need help to master his new summoning method and as his best friends it was their job to provide that help.

“Yuya!” Gong announces, “You and Gong are gonna duel to help master Pendulum!”

“Right!” Yuya agrees “I’m totally in!”

\---------------------------------------------

_“So, do you agree?”_

A boy with blonde hair is sitting down by his duel disk, its lit up with a call. He’s throwing darts at a poster, with a cheeky smirk on his face.

“So, all I have to do is steal those Pendulum Cards?” the teen asks curiously.

 _“Yes”_ the voice replied _“Just get the cards and in return we’ll trade you those rare cards you’ve been looking around for”_

The boy hums in thought, throwing another dart. He leans closer to the duel disk, lowering his voice.

“Can I get them by any means necessary?”

_“Within reason. As long as you get the cards. Do you agree?”_

“Alright then” the teen responds, picking up another dart “Sounds like a pretty good deal.”

The teen’s smirk widens as he throws the dart, it hits it’s target perfectly. A poster of Yuya Sakaki…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning episodes are mostly the same, just some minor alterations. Hopefully its just as enjoyable!


	3. Scale 3 - Pendulum Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuya meets Sylvio Sawatari, apparently a fan of his who wants to witness Pendulum Summoning. Well, at least that's what Yuya thinks...Sylvio has other plans.

“Yuya…Gong’s getting tired and it is getting late. Gong thinks its about time we stop for the night”

Yuya huffs, this was their 13th duel. Yuya had failed every attempt to Pendulum summon, he folded his arms.

“Can we just finish this last duel Gong? I know I can work it out!”

Gong groans, the poor guy looks exhausted but nods.

“Gong agrees. Alright, its your turn then Yuya”

Yuya drew his card and smiled, okay. So, he has all the cards he had in his duel with the Sledgehammer…Yuya sighs, he could just do what he did in the duel but that wouldn’t teach him anything. He needs to learn _exactly_ how he did what he did.

He blinks hearing a squeak. He looks down to where Hip Hippo is sitting, waiting patiently for Yuya to enter his battle phase. Hip Hippo makes a second squeaking noise and taps the ground. Yuya raises an eyebrow, before looking back at his cards.

“The arrows?” He mutters quietly, before shooting his monster another look “What about them?”

Gong yawned, rubbing his eyes. He was barely paying attention anymore. Hip Hippo squeaks again, nodding its head. Yuya hummed thoughtfully, staring at the numbers under the arrows then to the levels of his monsters.

Click.

“Oh…” he smiles down at Hip Hippo “Thanks! I totally missed that!”

Hip Hippo nods confidently, looking proud of itself. Yuya chuckles then grabs Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician out of his hand and holds them out.

“I set the Pendulum Scale using my Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and my Scale 8 Timegazer Magician! I’m taking control of this duel – starting now!” He places Stargazer on the far right and Timegazer on the far left of his duel disk.

As before, the word ‘PENDULUM’ appears across his duel disk in rainbow letters. Both monsters rise into the air behind Yuya, surrounded by pillars of light as elegant versions of the numbers ‘1’ and ‘8’ appear underneath them.

“I can now summon any number of monsters between the levels of 2 and 7 simultaneously!” Yuya raises his hand to the sky as an enlarged version of his Pendulum necklace swings between Stargazer and Timegazer.

“Swing far pendulum! Carve the arc of victory! My monsters are ready – to swing into action!” a portal opens up and three rays of light shoot down from it “Snap to it, Performapal Whip Snake! Slice and dice, Performapal Sword Fish! Turn up the heat, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!!”

Gong’s eyes widened, then slowly started to fill with tears of pure joy.  
“Yuya! Gong’s so proud of you! You managed to Pendulum Summon again!” he runs over and hugs Yuya tightly.

Yuya chuckles tiredly.  
“Thanks for the help guys…” he mutters sleepily, he hears Gong crying in happiness and the familiar squeak of Hip Hippo before he falls asleep.

\---------------------

Zuzu huffed irritably, it was the next day and during their last lesson Yuya had fallen fast asleep. She shook her head in disbelief as Yuya muttered in his sleep.

“…Pendulum…summon…” he mutters tiredly “Odd-Eyes…spiral flame…strike…”

She groaned quietly, clearly, he thought he was duelling or something like it. She leans over and gently shakes Yuya, hoping to wake him before the teacher noticed he was asleep.

“Yuya, Yuya wake up…” she whispered “Yuya…”

“Miss Boyle” the teacher suddenly says, she looks up.

“Yes?”

“Since you’re the class monitor can you go and give this to the office for me?” he asked, holding a folder up.

Zuzu nods and stands up pushing her seat in and gently kicking Yuya at the same time to try and wake him. No such luck, oh well she’d try again when she gets back. At least he had an okay reason to be tired today. She takes the folder and leaves the classroom.

Yuya keeps muttering about Pendulum and whatever duel he’s dreaming about…at least at first. By the time Zuzu returns his mutterings have changed and his expression seems…concerned. She raises an eyebrow, listening closely.

“I…didn’t mean to…” He muttered, before his expression grew confused “Smiling…? They’re…happy…?”

She had no idea what it was about, but she couldn’t let him sleep through the entire class. She reaches over shaking him awake.

“Yuya!” she whispers harshly “Wake up Sakaki”

He suddenly shoots awake, his eyes showing panic and surprise and…Zuzu frowns, he looks like he’s in cold sweats or something.

“You okay Yuya?”

Yuya blinks, running a hand through his hair before nodding with a smile.  
“Yeah, I was dreaming about winning the championships he chuckled” his attitude becoming calm.

Zuzu raised an eyebrow, dreaming about being champion caused him to wake up in a panic? Was he lying to her or…did he genuinely not remember whatever else he’d been dreaming about? The bell suddenly went and she chuckled.

“Well, maybe you need to focus more on reality Yuya, you just slept through the last lesson”

“Sweet” Yuya replied, leaning back in his chair and stretching “Who needs maths?”

Zuzu groans loudly, picking up her things.  
“Come on Yuya, we’ve gotta get to You Show”

Yuya chuckles following her out the door.

\------------------------------------------

A small boy with blue hair was walking up to the LID Building, he was holding a lollipop occasionally nibbling on it.

 _So, this is the Leo Institute of Duelling huh?_ He thinks to himself, looking around.

He walks inside, casually looking at the course list and scanning the students for anyone interesting. So far there was pretty well nothing that interested him, Xyz, Fusion, Synchro and Composite studies. Pretty standard honestly.

“Man, you’d think Sylvio would be here by now” A student muttered.

The boy perked up, looking behind him at the two students who were conversing.

“I said he had some business with that Yuya kid” Another commented.

“The one who did that whole Pendulum summoning thing? Wasn’t that fake?”

“They say it might’ve been, maybe Sylvio’s trying to work out if that’s true?” the first student shrugs “Either way, he said he’ll be here a little later than usual but that he’d still be here. Just wait”

The boy frowned, biting hard into his lollipop.  
_Pendulum…Summoning?_ He’d never heard of such a method; it must be brand new… _hm…_

\-------------------------------------------------

“Yuya! Zuzu!” Frederick says cheerfully “Gong told us Yuya perfected his Pendulum summoning!”

Yuya nods smugly.  
“Took 13 tries but I did it! Thanks in no small part to Gong”

Tate’s eyes light up, he stares up at the older boy hopefully.  
“Can we see?”

“ _Please Yuya?_ ” Ally says.

“Of course!” Yuya replies “We’ll head to You Show then I’ll show you all!”

The group only manages a few steps before three sucker-tipped darts fly out of nowhere and hit Yuya right between the eyes. He blinks in surprise, before looking at Zuzu in confusion.

“What just happened?” She muttered.

“…Bull’s-eye…” Yuya continued in disbelief before looking over at the party responsible for Yuya’s apparent new job as a target.

It was a boy also dressed in the Paradise Prep School uniform. His brushed a bit of his blonde hair aside and smirked.

“Mere child’s play, I could do that blindfolded” he says before walking over and gently pulling the darts off of Yuya’s face “It’s an honour to meet you! I’m Sylvio Sawatari from Class 1!”

Yuya rubbed between his eyes, before looking back at Sylvio, greatly bewildered by him. Sylvio grabbed his hands, shaking them enthusiastically while smiling down at the smaller teen.

“You’re Yuya Sakaki correct? I watched your duel against the Sledgehammer on TV! It was fabulous and I must say the Pendulum Summon absolutely astounded me! Honestly, you were bound to win from the start, it was no contest!”

Yuya blushed a little at the compliments, looking away.  
“Oh…well, thank you Sylvio that’s really nice of you to say…”

“You were utterly amazing Yuya” Sylvio continues “Those cards you used to perform the summon…what are they called?”

“Pendulum Cards” Yuya replies “It’s a little on the nose but I liked the name so…”

“Ah, _Pendulum Cards_! Cards such as those, cards that rare and powerful could only be wielded by the most powerful of duelists! By those chosen for greatness!” He grins “Yuya Sakaki, you must be an extremely special duelist!”

Yuya was growing more and more flustered by the second, he really wasn’t used to getting so many compliments. Zuzu sighs.

“Sylvio, you really don’t need to flatter him this much…”

“ _Au contraire_!” Sylvio responds “What I’m saying is completely true! I would honestly love to be bestowed such a great honour as to wield cards such as Yuya’s, learning how to perform such an incredible method of summoning is my greatest wish! But even just seeing the cards work their magic in person would be an honour!”

Zuzu huffs, leaning close to Yuya and whispering.  
“Yuya, we have to go show the kids the summon at You Show”

Yuya blinked.  
“Oh! Right, sorry! I nearly forgot!” He turns to Sylvio “I’m sorry Sylvio but I really need to go!”

Sylvio looks a little disappointed before smiling again. As if he’d had an idea.

“Yuya, if you’re planning to showcase your Pendulum summoning then allow me to offer you a far better arena” He responds “One truly worthy of a duelist of your calibre! The Centre court at the Leo Institute!”

“The…what?!” Yuya exclaimed “But, you have to make reservations to duel there and usually you have to plan it like months in advance”

“Unless you’re a LID Student” Zuzu mutters irritably.

Sylvio smirks, flicking his collar up to show a pin that says: LID.  
“Well, its good that I happen to be a student there! One of their top students actually, I made a reservation for today to practice but I thought…well, why not offer a far more suitable arena for you to showcase your Pendulum Power?”

Tate’s eyes widened.  
“We get to go to the Leo Institute!?” He smiles widely “That’s so cool!”

“We can do it just a well at You Show!” Zuzu replies.

Yuya looks at her.

“Zuzu listen” he whispers “This is the LID Centre court we’re talking about. Its huge, how epic would it be to duel there just once?”

“…I don’t know…”

“Come on Zuzu!” Frederick announces, “The Leo Institute even has a snack bar!”

“You can scope out our school’s competition too!” Ally suggests.

Zuzu eventually relents.  
“Fine. But I’m only coming to check out the competition like Ally said!”

Sylvio nods.

“I thought you would say that” He turns and begins to walk ahead “You are all welcome at LID if you like. If not, then I bid you _au revoir_!”

Yuya and the kids run ahead, already looking excited. Zuzu groans and follows.

Sylvio lets the five You Show students walk ahead, his friendly smile dissolving into a sinister smirk. He makes a motion, like he’s about to throw a dart and chuckles quietly.

_Hook, line and sinker. Everything is going according to plan._

\----------------------------------------

“Woah…” Yuya muttered “LID is huge…”

Sylvio chuckles.  
“Of course, nothing but the best for our students” he replies, “Welcome friends!”

Sylvio gestures for the five You Show students to walk ahead while he begins to give them a quick tour.

“The Leo Institute of Dueling is run by the Leo Corporation as you know. Unfortunately, not just anyone can attend this school, its invitation only. A few, extremely rare, exceptions have been made before but as I said, extremely rare” Sylvio explains “LID is the top dueling institution in the world!”

“My mother actually wanted me to go here…” Tate replies “But, I told her I preferred You Show”

“I’ve heard that You Show is…well, okay for a dueling school” Sylvio comments “It was founded by the world’s greatest Dueltainer, for that it must be given some credit. I’m sure it teaches you all the essentials”

Yuya huffs a little, before walking over to a poster to examine it. His eyes widened as he turned back to Sylvio.

“You guys teach everything here!”

“Of course,” Sylvio responds “Our curriculum is the most advanced in the world, from the basics of dueling to the most complicated dueling strategies and every special summoning method”

“Xyz, Synchro, Fusion…that’s nuts” Yuya muttered before he scanned the page some more, he raised an eyebrow “You say you teach every method, right? So…why isn’t Ritual on this poster?”

Sylvio walked over pointing to the blue column.  
“That’s part of the Composite studies course. Its not as big as the other methods so it doesn’t really have its own course” Sylvio walks back to the others “LID has the best equipment and the best possible teachers, so really the students from LID are the best duelists in the world!”

Zuzu folds her arms.  
“I suppose LID is better at everything then?” She says sarcastically.

Ally giggles.  
“Don’t worry Zuzu, You Show is always the best duel school in our minds!”

“Ya!” Frederick announces, “It’s perfect!”

Yuya chuckles turning away from the poster, he spotted something in the corner of his eye and turned. Seeing a blue haired boy with a ponytail walk past him. The boy glances at him, licking a lollipop.

_Who’s the blue haired kid…? He doesn’t look like he’s from Leo…_

The boy’s eyes dart to Sylvio then back to Yuya, as if something had suddenly clicked. He chuckled and turned walking off.

“Yuya!”

Yuya gasped, turning back to the others. Zuzu was right in his face.

“You zoned out again!”

“O-Oh! Sorry Zuzu! Guess I got distracted!”

Sylvio chuckles and gestures for them to follow.  
“Please, the Centre court is just to our right, follow me!”

Sylvio allows the You Show duelists to enter first, revelling in the gasps of surprise he received from them.  
“Marvellous, is it not?” Sylvio asked.

Tate nodded.  
“Its so huge, imagine the kind of field spells that could play out here!” he announces, “You’d be able to go for ages without hitting a wall!”

Yuya huffed.  
“We don’t hit the walls at You Show…”

Ally smirked, tapping him to get his attention.  
“But Yuya? Didn’t Zuzu send you flying into the wall just last week?”

Yuya looked flustered and folded his arms.  
“I…I let her do that”

“Sure you did” Zuzu giggled.

Frederick noticed three other boys walking over.  
“Uh…who are those people?”

Sylvio smirks, walking over to them.

“These are my friends, Ootomo, Kakimoto and Yamabe” he looks to the three boys “This is Yuya Sakaki and his friends, you know the one who performed the Pendulum summon? He’s going to demonstrate the summon for us!”

Sylvio walked back over to Yuya, looking sweet as can be.  
“Yuya, may we…see your Pendulum cards? Before you demonstrate your incredible summon?”

Yuya frowns, looking hesitant. He puts a hand on his pocket where he keeps his deck.  
“Show you my cards…?” he looks down a little “I don’t know…”

“Oh, please Yuya?” Sylvio asked sweetly “I assure you it will only be for a short while!”

Yuya bites his lip but nods, pulling out his Magician monsters.  
“Just…be careful with them”

“Will do” Sylvio responds, taking the cards and walking over to show them to his friends “Look, I told you, Pendulum Cards!”

“Woah…so cool!” Yamabe comments “Wish we had something like this”

Kakimoto went to grab the cards but Sylvio held them away from him, a smug smile on his face.

“Now, now Kakimoto” Sylvio says “You know these aren’t yours”

Yuya lets out a sigh of relief, thank goodness Sylvio was-

“They’re mine” Sylvio says suddenly, turning to smirk viciously at Yuya “Your cards, they’re so rare and powerful, I simply have to add them to my rare card collection!”

Zuzu clenches her fists, glaring him down.  
“Sylvio this isn’t amusing!”

“Cards like these only belong with the most powerful of duelists” Sylvio explains “that _isn’t_ you, Yuya Sakaki. So I’m taking your Pendulum cards off your hands!”

“Sylvio! Give them back!” Yuya shouts as Sylvio’s friends begin to laugh.

“Well, this _is_ why I made a reservation at the centre court Yuya” Sylvio chuckles “I certainly can’t use these cards if I don’t know how! So, shall we duel? If you win, I’ll return your precious cards but if I win, well, I expect to be taught how to Pendulum Summon!”

Yuya grits his teeth.  
“No way! Just give them back! They aren’t yours!”

Sylvio walks over and grabs Yuya’s goggles pulling them and letting them snap back on his face. Causing poor Yuya to fall over.

“You’ll duel me, or your friends will pay the price” he snaps his fingers and his three friends grab Yuya’s friends and drag them off.

“What the- Sylvio!” Yuya shouts “Let my friends go!”

“If you duel me!” Sylvio responds before he reaches into his jacket pocket “You know what Yuya…I actually feel kind of bad for taking your cards…here have these ones. They’re trash, like you”

He chucks a bunch of cards onto the ground, Yuya looks down at them.  
“Trash?” he mutters in confusion, before kneeling down and picking up one of the monster cards _Block Spider_ “No card is worthless”

He stares at Block Spider, gritting his teeth.  
_Why would Sylvio treat you guys this way?_ He thinks, _doesn’t he care about you at all?_

“I think I know exactly what action field would suit our current predicament!” Sylvio says suddenly “I activate the Action Field _Prison Tower of Darkville!_ ”

The Solid Vision system conjures up chains that surround Zuzu and the children, Yuya’s eyes widened, feeling the ground shaking.  
“Guys, hang on!”

Soon enough the four You Show students go flying into the air on a tower, the rest of the dark city continues to manifest around them and Yuya starts off after his friends. Leaping from building to building as the field spell manifests.

Sylvio laughs.  
“Come now Yuya, what’s a prison without some prisoners?”

Yuya shakes his head, making one pretty big leap but barely landing it. Before he can get any further, he realises that the field spell has already thoroughly separated him from Zuzu and the kids. He turns back to face Sylvio, glaring.

“Let my friends go!”

“If you want them safe, you’ll have to duel me Yuya”

Yuya huffs but pulls his deck out sliding it into his duel disk as it sets up, then he pulls out Block Spider again, staring at it.

“…you wanna help me teach Sylvio a lesson?” he says to the card, he shoots a look to Sylvio before smirking “Thought you’d agree”

He slipped the card into his deck and the duel disk automatically shuffled the deck for him. Yuya inhaled slowly.

“Alright Sawatari! Let’s go!”

“Agreed. Duel!” Sylvio responds.  
  
**_Yuya Sakaki_** _  
LP: 4000_

**_Sylvio Sawatari_ ** _  
LP: 4000_

Yuya goes first, he holds a monster out.  
“I summon Performapal Whip Snake!” he announces, the monster appears on the field and instantly wraps its tail around Yuya’s arm “Let’s go Whip Snake!”

He uses his monster to get over to the bridge section of the field, as he lands, he pulls a second card from his hand and places it face down on his field.

“I’m going to place one card face down and end my turn!” Yuya shouts before racing off to find an Action card.

Sylvio chuckles, glancing at his hand. He already has Timegazer Magician, now he just needs to draw Stargazer Magician and he’ll be able to Pendulum summon.

“My move! I draw!” he smiles at the cards in his hand then swaps the one he just drew for one of his monsters “I summon my _Lightning Dart Striker_! When this card is summoned, I can add another ‘Dart Striker’ to my hand!”

Yuya grits his teeth, great, this is already going fantastic. Sylvio smiles adding the monster to his hand.

“I activate the special ability of my _Stealth Dart Striker!_ Since I control another ‘Dart Striker’ monster, I can special summon it from my hand!”

Yuya huffed, looking around. He needs an Action card…

“Battle! Lightning Dart Striker! Attack!” Sylvio smirks “And guess what, Stealth Dart Striker has a special ability! During the battle phase all my Dart Strikers gain 100 attack points for every dart striker on the field! Raising my Lightning Dart Striker’s attack points from 1600 to 1800!”

Yuya flinched, that didn’t sound good especially considering Whip Snake’s attack was only 1700….

Lightning Dart Striker rushed towards Yuya and Whip Snake. Yuya used Whip Snake to swing away from the monster’s initial attack and grab an action card, sliding it into his duel disk without even thinking.

“I play the action card-” Yuya froze as the image appeared on his screen “Crap, it’s an Action Trap!”

“Oh, dear Yuya!” Sylvio laughed “Seems you made the mistake of not checking the card before you activated it.”

Yuya bit his lip, taking the taunting without biting back. Yeah, he should’ve known better than that he must’ve been too distracted to check…he taps the screen and pulls up the effect of the card.

“Might as well see what this does… _Break Shot_...” he mutters then groaned “Crap…”

He looked up at Whip Snake, still wrapped around his arm. The monster stares in concern as Yuya smiles apologetically. It tilts its head until Yuya sighs and says:

“This reduces your attack by 900…” he explained quietly.

Whip Snake instantly panics, making little squeaking sounds as it shoots shocked looks between Yuya and the small holographic stats screen showing its attack points dropping from 1700 to 800.

“Lightning Dart Striker, finish that snake.”

Whip Snake shot looks between Yuya and Sylvio’s monster then released its tail’s grip on Yuya’s arm. Moving in front of Yuya.

“Whip Snake!”

Lightning Dart Striker ran the poor monster through with its weapon, the monster exploded into pixels. Yuya shot a look to the holographic screen showing his life points.

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 3000_

_Great…_ he gritted his teeth seeing Stealth Dart Striker rearing up to attack.

“Stealth Dart Striker, attack Yuya directly!” Sylvio snickers “And thanks to its ability you won’t be taking 1700 points of damage, you’ll be taking 1900!”

_Gotta move!_

He started running to find a – hopefully not trap – Action card.

\--------------

Meanwhile, Zuzu, Tate, Ally and Frederick were gripping the chains surrounding them tightly. Lightning Dart Striker’s attack had caused the tower they were on to shake precariously.

“Zuzu…” Ally muttered, clinging to the older girl “I’m scared, we’re so high up…”

Zuzu held onto her, smiling softly.

“It’s okay Ally, don’t worry. Yuya won’t let anything bad happen to us.”

“Yeah!” Tate agreed “He beat the Sledgehammer; he can handle some stuck-up LDS Student!”

“Ya!” Frederick adds shakily “Though, I wish we could’ve been trapped closer to the ground…”

Zuzu sighed, looking back down at the duel.

“Well, there’s not much we can do about that.”

\----------------

Yuya spotted an Action card a little distance away and quickly leapt up the side of one of the smaller buildings, thank god he was a pretty good acrobat. He quickly grabbed the card, shooting a quick look.

 _Crap, another trap?! Whatever, I don’t have time to debate whether I should use this or not!_ He slid it into his duel disk, watching the information come up on screen.

“I play the action trap _Spin Shot!_ ”

“Another Action Trap Yuya?” Sylvio chuckled “Why risk it?”

“I’ll take 500 damage for activating this card but no biggie!” Yuya flinched as electricity sparked around him and his duel disk.

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 2500_

“Thanks to this trap, the battle phase is immediately ended!”

Sylvio sighed as Stealth Dart Striker stopped, its weapon inches away from Yuya’s face. He brushed some of his hair aside and shrugged.

“Whatever, that’s only mildly irritating.” He slides a card into his duel disk “I’ll place one card face down and end my turn for now Yuya”

“Alright, my move”

 _Okay, this isn’t too bad…_ he switches the card he’d just drawn for another in his hand and holds it out.

“I activate the spell card _Impractical Performance!_ ” He slides the card into his duel disk with a grin “Because I took damage from a card effect last turn, I can send a ‘Performapal’ monster in my hand to the graveyard and draw two more cards! If either of them happen to be a monster, I can send it to the graveyard and increase my life points by that monster’s attack points!”

Sylvio shook his head.

“Relying on luck I suppose?”

“Eh, Dueltaining needs a bit of luck you know?” Yuya holds up a monster “I’m going to send _Performapal Inflater Tapir_ to my graveyard!”

Yuya quickly drew his next two cards and smiled widely.

“Yes! I drew _Performapal Salutiger!_ Meaning my life points rise by 1700!”

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 4200._

Sylvio groaned.

“Fine, fine. So you extended the duel a little, lets get to the _action_ , this is an action duel after all”

“Oh, I’ll give you plenty of action Sylvio!” Yuya announces he winks a little before placing a card on his duel disk “I summon _Performapal Corn_ in attack mode!”

“…A measly level 3 monster?” Sylvio looks greatly disappointed “Yuya, it only has 600 defence points, I can’t decide if you’re that dumb or if you really think you can win with that stupid card”

Yuya glances at Performapal Corn, the monster smiles at him. She looked pretty confident actually.

“Well, maybe not yet…” he starts, Corn nods to him and he slides two cards into his duel disk “But every step is a step towards victory! I place two cards face down, turn over!”

“Well that was a complete waste of time!” Sylvio draws “Ah, perfect. I activate _Tribute Trade!_ I tribute my Lightning Dart Striker to add this card to my hand, I think you’ll find it familiar Yuya”

He holds it up with a sinister smile as Yuya stares in shock.

“That’s my Stargazer Magician!”

“Ah, ah, ah, Yuya. You mean _my_ Stargazer!” Sylvio chuckles “ _And_ there’s even worse news for you, I also have Timegazer Magician!”

“So what?” Yuya bites back “You don’t know how to use them!”

Sylvio blinked as a message appeared on his duel disk, he scanned over it and muttered:

“The timing”

Before he put on a showy smile and announced confidently…

“ _Au contraire_ Yuya, I do.”

Yuya frowned, how could Sylvio already know how the Pendulum cards worked? After all, Yuya himself had only worked it out today.

Sylvio holds out Stargazer and Timegazer.

“I’m going to activate my scale 1 Stargazer Magician and my scale 8 Timegazer Magician in the Pendulum Zones!” he announces, putting the two cards on opposite ends of his duel disk blade, the blade lights up with the word ‘PENDULUM’ in rainbow letters.

Behind Sylvio pillars of light rise up, Stargazer and Timegazer inside them with elegant versions of the numbers ‘1’ and ‘8’ underneath the two Pendulum cards.

“Now, any monsters between the level of 2 and 7 are up for summoning! I think I’ll go with these three!”

He holds up three monsters before slamming them on his duel disk.

“ **I Pendulum Summon!** Power Dart Striker! Rocket Dart Striker! And my Ultimate Dart Striker!”

Yuya stares in disbelief, Corn shoots him a worried look.

_Sylvio…Pendulum summoned…_

“Hm Yuya, would you look at that?” Sylvio snickers “I’m actually quite impressed, Pendulum summoning has allowed me to tip the scales even further in my favour!”

“…No way…” Yuya mutters.

\--------------------------------

Meanwhile, from outside the arena, the same boy with blue hair from earlier was watching, sucking on his lollipop.

_Huh, so that’s Pendulum Summoning._

He chuckles, curious to see how Yuya was planning to get out of this. If he was honest, he was finding this duel quite entertaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next episode deviates a little from the original episode, in fact it deviates from my initial duel script that I set up for the Sylvio Vs Yuya duel. I just had a random idea that I decided to write an alternate version of the duel’s ending for and…I decided I liked it more lol XD
> 
> Also, from now on, any time there’s new custom cards I’ll write down their effects here! ^^  
> \--  
> Sylvio’s Custom Cards:  
> Lightning Dart Striker [Level 4 – Dark – ATK: 1600/DEF: 700 - Warrior/Effect: When this card is Normal summoned you can add one “Dart Striker” monster from your deck to your hand.]
> 
> Stealth Dart Striker [Level 5 – Dark – ATK: 1700/DEF: 2000 – Warrior/Effect: If you control another “Dart Striker” monster you may special summon this card from your hand without tributing. During the battle phase every “Dart Striker” monster gains 100 attack points for each ‘Dart Striker’ on your field.]  
> \--  
> Yuya’s Custom Cards:  
> Impractical Performance [Spell – Quick Play: When you take damage due to a card effect you can send one “Performapal” monster from your hand to the graveyard and draw two cards. If either of those cards happen to be monsters, you may add that monster’s attack points onto your life points and send the monster to the graveyard]  
> \--  
> Custom Action Cards:  
> Spin Shot [Action Trap: Deals you 500 points of damage but ends the battle phase]


	4. Scale 4 - A bit of Unexpected Help!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The duel between Sylvio and Yuya is heating up, Yuya isn't even sure if he can win...however someone new arrives to help!

Zuzu’s eyes widened as she watched the duel progress. The giant columns of light behind Sylvio had her stunned. Plus, the fact that Timegazer Magician and Stargazer Magician were inside them…Could Yuya even win this?

“Zuzu…Did Sylvio just Pendulum Summon?” Ally asked nervously.

“I didn’t think he’d work it out so quickly…” Tate muttered.

“D-Don’t worry you guys!” Zuzu insists “Yuya can easily beat this guy!”

\------

“Alrighty then Yuya, lets see what my brand knew Pendulum Power is capable of!” Sylvio announces “Battle! Power Dart Striker, attack his Performapal Corn!”

Yuya narrows his eyes, holding his hand out.

“I play my trap card! _Last Minute Cancel!_ Since you declared an attack while Corn is in Attack mode I can shift it to defence mode and since it’s a ‘Performapal’ monster, I can return it to my hand when its destroyed!”

“Whatever, Rocket Dart Striker! Attack Yuya directly!”

Yuya shouts as Rocket Dart Striker’s attack sends him flying, he ends up crashing in the water, coughing and spitting water out as he surfaces again.

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 1800_

“Now, Ultimate Dart Striker! Attack!”

“ _Magician’s Crystal_ go!” Yuya announces, his trap flips up and shines as it activates “Since you declared a direct attack while there are ‘Magician’ cards on either side of the field I can negate your attack and halve any battle damage I take for the rest of the turn!”

Sylvio grits his teeth, putting a hand on his hip.

“You really are quite frustrating you know that?”

Yuya climbs out of the water, brushing some of his hair out of the way with a smug smile.

“I try”

“Stealth Dart Striker, attack directly.”

Yuya gets blasted back into the wall behind him, causing the tower his friends were on to shake more. He could hear them all cry out in shock and panic.

“Guys!” He frowns “Hold on! You’ll be alright!”

He shoots a look to his life points.

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 750_

“Keep saying that Yuya” Sylvio chuckles “Anyway, turn over.”

Yuya sighed, drawing his next card.

“Oh sweet! I play the spell card _Final Performance_! Since I have no monsters on my field I can banish two ‘Performapal’ Monsters in my graveyard to draw two cards!”

Two lights, in the general shapes of Performapal Salutiger and Performapal Inflater Tapir appear in front of Yuya before turning into small glowing yellow balls. The lights land on Yuya’s deck, causing the top two cards to glow.

“So lets see what I come up with!” He draws them and his eyes widen “Even more sweet! I think you’ll recognise this card Sylvio”

He holds out one of the cards he drew, a monster.

Block Spider.

“Wait, that rubbish card?”

“No card is rubbish” Yuya mutters, looking down at the Block Spider card, then at his hand “And I’m about…no… _we’re_ about to show you why!”

Sylvio groaned, rolling his eyes.

“First, I’m gonna summon Block Spider!” Yuya smiles “Block Spider has a neat ability you know? As long as its on the field you can’t attack any insect type monsters _except_ Block Spider”

“Well, since it _is_ your only monster that ability is useless!”

Yuya snickers, holding out a second card.

“Well, actually…it _would_ be, except I have this card: The spell card _Mimiclay_! Basically, it turns into an exact copy of my Block Spider, ability and all”

“So what…?” Sylvio mutters, looking extremely worried.

“I think you already know”

The two Block Spiders scuttle in front of Yuya before two glowing webs appear in front of them and lock together.

“When there’s two Block Spiders together their abilities prevent you from attacking any insect monsters other than them, but as they’re both insect monsters their abilities protect each other” He winks “In other words. _Block Lock_. You can’t attack at all now”

\-------------------

Zuzu smiled widely as she heard that, looking at the kids.

“See guys? Yuya still has a chance!”

Tate nods quickly before yelling down:  
“Go Yuya! Kick that guys butt!”

“Ya! Show ‘em who the real Pendulum Master is!” Frederick added.

“Don’t let him show you up!” Ally continued.

They kept shouting at Yuya to win, Zuzu’s expression shifted into a bit of concern. She fiddled with her bracelet worriedly.

_Come on Yuya, you can do this…_

\----------------------

 _Wow, that’s not a bad move for a card that guy thought was useless._ The blue haired boy thinks to himself, sucking on his lollipop.

_Still, its really just a way to hold out longer…though…by the look on that Yuya guy’s face he’s got something planned. He’s just waiting for the right card._

The boy snickers excitedly, a huge smile crossing his face.

“I kinda can’t wait to see what it is!”

\--------------------------

“…I…I…” Sylvio muttered irritably.

Yuya chuckled.

“What’s wrong Sylvio? Cat got your tongue?” He glances at the Original Block Spider “Or…maybe its caught in the web?”

Block Spider made a sound kind of like laughter. Sylvio just looked really, really angry.

“Don’t you _dare_ make fun of me like that!” He shouts, taking a step forward “You’re a third-rate Duelist from an even worse Duel school-”

Yuya’s eyes narrowed and he muttered:

“Don’t continue that sentence…”

Sylvio didn’t seem to hear him at all.

“–And you’re a _coward_ just like your father, hiding behind those bugs!”

Yuya went absolutely silent, staring at the ground quietly.

Sylvio’s smirk widened, his posture straightened and smugness radiated off of him. He knew for sure he’d gotten under Yuya’s skin.

“What? What’s the matter _Sakaki_? Upset…?”

Yuya gritted his teeth, his whole form shaking. Block Spider turned around a little, making some soft squeaking noises.

Yuya sighs, before inhaling slowly and deeply. Trying to calm the anger surging through him.

“You know what Sylvio…?” Yuya starts “You’re not worth it”

“…E-Excuse me!?”

Yuya looks up, his expression scarily calm.

“You heard me. You’re not worth it.” He sighed, “You’re not worth the extra effort it takes to be angry.”

Sylvio’s eye twitches a little in response to that. He grits his teeth as Yuya calmly pulls a card from his hand and slides it into his duel disk.

“I’m gonna put this card face down” then his usual bright smile reappears “Over to you!”

Sylvio huffed irritably, before drawing a card.

 _Cricket Close?_ He thinks, staring at it. That would be fantastic if he had what he needed to activate it…but he needed spells. He glanced at his face down…he could just use that but he got the feeling it would be useful later…ugh what does he do…?

Oh…a message appeared on his duel disk again. He frowned, glancing at it.

_…The Magicians…? What does he mean they’re Spell cards now?_

He taps the screen of his duel Disk, before tapping on the image of Stargazer Magician’s card. Oh god, it was. It was a spell card now, so was Timegazer Magician! This was perfect!

“I activate Cricket Close! By Negating two of my spell cards, I can negate one of yours!”

Yuya snickered.

“Sylvio, you don’t have any spells on your field-“ he’s interrupted by Block Spider, staring at him with concerned in its eyes.

Yuya kneels down, looking at it worriedly.

“Block Spider? What’s wrong?”

The monster squeaks desperately before looking back at Sylvio. Yuya glanced back at the other duelist, his eyes narrowing before he looked at his duel disk and tapped the screen a couple times. Pulling up Sylvio’s field and checking Stargazer and Timegazer magician.

“No way…”

“Worked it out did you Yuya?” Sylvio snickered “Your Pendulum cards are spells!”

Yuya frowned, glancing at the Mimiclay Block Spider copy. He knew exactly what Sylvio’s plan was.

“Cricket Close!” Sylvio announces “I negate Stargazer and Timegazer’s effects to negate Mimiclay’s effect!”

Yuya gasped as Stargazer and Timegazer were bound, electricity sparking around the monsters as they groaned in pain.

“Stargazer Magician…Timegazer Magician…”

“Don’t worry about them Yuya, worry about yourself!” he announced “Because now you only have Block Spider on your field so you’ll be open to attack once again!”

Yuya sighed, then held his hand out.

“Reveal Face down! _Performapal Empty Recital!_ This Trap card activates when you negate the effects of a spell card I control! Because you did, I can add a ‘Performapal’ monster to my hand” a card slides out of his deck and he holds it out “I choose _Performapal Judge Juggler_ ”

“Whatever-”

“Next, I activate Magician’s crystal from the graveyard! I can banish it and add to my hand any cards on the field with negated effects!” He smiles “I guess that’s good then, because I get my Magicians back!”

“Wait what!?” Sylvio’s eye darted between the two pillars of light behind him as the Magicians were released from the binds negating their effects. Sylvio huffs removing the cards from his duel disk and throwing them back to Yuya “Lucky break…”

Yuya catches them with a smile, glancing down at the two Magicians.

“Glad to have you both back.”

“Yeah, Yeah. Don’t get too comfortable Sakaki!” Sylvio shouts “Battle Phase! Ultimate Dart Striker attack Block Spider!”

“Hey, remember this guy?” Yuya asked, holding up his Performapal Judge Juggler “I can send it to the graveyard to negate your attack and end the battle. Sorry Sawatari, better luck next time”

Sylvio gritted his teeth angrily, his whole form was shaking. Why was Yuya suddenly getting the upper hand?!

 _Wait, calm down Sylvio. He still only has 750 life points left. Meanwhile…_ a smug smile crosses his face _I still have all 4000 of my life points. To win now would take some kind of miracle._

“Fine, turn over. Go on Yuya”

\------------------------

“Ya! Go Yuya! Show that meanie who’s the Pendulum Master!” Frederick cheered.

Zuzu sighed in relief, Yuya was holding on but just barely…she had to believe he could win. After all, in the position she was in there wasn’t anything else she _could_ do.

 _Besides, Tate, Ally and Frederick need you to be brave. They need your courage Zuzu, they’re looking up to you._ She nods determined before shooting a nasty glare in Sylvio’s direction, even if he couldn’t see it _Note to self: Whack that LID jerk with your fan the second you’re down from this stupid tower!_

\---------------------------

Yuya drew his card, scanning over his hand and the field. Yes, his plan would definitely work!

“First, I banish Performapal Judge Juggler from my graveyard so I can add one ‘Odd-Eyes’ monster to my hand” Yuya smiles, a card sliding out of his deck “Obviously, I’m adding my good friend Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

Yuya then pulled out his two magicians and held them out.

“Now! I’m setting the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and my Scale 8 Timegazer Magician! I’m taking control of this duel – starting now!” Yuya announces, placing his two Pendulum cards on his duel disk.

The word ‘Pendulum’ appears across it as Timegazer and Stargazer appear in his Pendulum Zones.

“I don’t need to tell you what I can do now, do I Sylvio?” Yuya asks with a smirk, he pauses hearing chants of ‘Pendulum’ over and over again.

He glances up at the tower his friends are trapped on…they were cheering him on! That just makes his confidence soar. Yuya of course, wasn’t aware that the blue haired boy was cheering too, well Yuya wasn’t even aware that boy was watching so…

“Alright then, swing far pendulum! Carve the arc of victory! My monsters are ready – to swing into action! Play it safe, _Performapal Safety Magician!_ Turn up the heat, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

Sylvio raised an eyebrow, staring at Yuya’s monsters.

“Can’t wait to see what you’re going to do with a magician with only 300 attack points. Honestly maybe it should pull a disappearing act”

“Actually, that’s not quite what Safety Magician does, allow me to explain!” Yuya bows slightly “Ladies and Gentlemen! When this monster is Pendulum Summoned all monsters on my opponent’s field have their special abilities negated. I can also target one monster on my field and increase its attack points by this card’s defence points till the end of my next turn!”

He gestures to Block Spider.

“Obviously Odd-Eyes is fine, but I think my little spider friend here is in need of a little power boost! So, watch as Safety Magician waves her magic wand and…boom!”

Sparks surround Block Spider, it looks confused then the stats screen shows up, revealing its attack points have risen to 2000. It squeaks happily.

“Ta~da!” Yuya winks “Next up, Safety Magician is going to pull the old switcheroo! Now that it has used its normal ability, I’ll switch it with one of my Magicians in my Pendulum zones!”

Yuya hums thoughtfully looking at his two magicians before he shrugs and turns back to Sylvio.

“I think I’ll swap Safety Magician with my Stargazer Magician!” Safety Magician flies up and goes into Stargazer’s Pendulum zone while Stargazer floats down by Yuya “Next, I’ll activate Safety Magician’s Pendulum Ability! I can choose one ‘Odd-Eyes’, ‘Performapal’ or ‘Magician’ monster I control and it can attack each of your special summoned monsters once…huh, that’s right, all of your monsters are special summoned!”

Sylvio huffed. He glanced at his face down, should he…?

“I select my Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! With Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon allowed to attack more than once, you’ll be down and out soon enou-”

“Actually, I disagree, I reveal my face down! _Dart Disruption!_ I can send a card from my hand to the graveyard and by doing so I can negate the effects of one of your spell cards!”

“What!? Why didn’t you use that when I had Mimiclay out?” Yuya asks in confusion.

“I just had a feeling” He smirks “Thank goodness too”

He discards the last card in his hand, then points at Safety Magician.

“Since cards in the Pendulum zone are spells, I’m negating the effect of Performapal Safety Magician!”

Yuya’s eyes darted to his magician who yelped in shock as Sylvio’s card shot a bolt of lightning at it.

“Safety Magician!” He looked back at Sylvio, great, he couldn’t use that effect to attack more than once now… “Fine…Block Spider! Attack Power Dart Striker!”

Block Spider scuttled forward a little then shot a web out at Power Dart Striker, squeezing the monster till it exploded into pixels.

**_Sylvio Sawatari  
_ ** _LP: 3800_

“Great job Block Spider!” Yuya announced, before looking at Odd-Eyes “Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Attack Ultimate Dart Striker!”

Odd-Eyes ran forward, eyes glowing and its mouth wide open, fire forming in it.

“Go! **Spiral Flame Strike!** ”

Odd-Eyes’ fire knocked Ultimate Dart Striker backwards, just as the monster exploded into pixels and the fire hit the ground next to Sylvio sending him skidding backwards a bit.

“Thanks to Odd-Eyes’ special ability you’ll take double the damage!”

“So what?” Sylvio mutters “It’s not like I took that much damage”

**_Sylvio Sawatari  
_ ** _LP: 3600_

“Maybe not, but every step is a step forward” Yuya replies “I end my turn”

Sylvio huffed, he only needed one attack to win…but neither of his remaining monsters had quite enough attack points to take out Odd-Eyes and Block Spider…

\---------------------

The blue haired boy tilts his head, watching as Sylvio drew his next card. He frowned noticing the smirk crossing Sylvio’s face.

_Looks like he got something good…_

The boy suddenly turned and walked to the entrance of the stadium, a look of minor irritation on his face. What was he doing? Why was he considering this?

_It’s not your place to get involved…god…stupid, why are you even thinking about this…?_

Still, after watching how the duel had been going, plus working out that Sylvio had been planning to steal that Yuya guys’ cards the whole time…there was something underhanded about it that he certainly respected, but he kinda wanted to see that Yuya guy duel when he wasn’t at a disadvantage like that.

After a moment of staring at the entrance, he made up his mind.

\-----------------------

“I activate the continuous spell _Sharp Shooting!_ ” Sylvio announces “Since I have a ‘Dart Striker’ in my graveyard I can choose a monster on my field and it’ll be allowed to attack directly! However, for as long as this card is in play your monsters can’t be destroyed by battle and at the start of all my turns this card is in play, I have to pay 500 life points”

Yuya frowned, glancing at the screen showing his life points. One attack…

“I choose my Rocket Dart Striker…so now” Sylvio chuckles “I attack you directly!”

Yuya’s eyes scanned the immediate area, searching for an Action card.

_There!_

He quickly climbed his way up the nearest wall, jumping to reach the card that was still a good deal higher up. He almost got it but Rocket Dart Striker’s attack hit the ground behind him causing the card to be knocked off.

Yuya’s eyes widened as he hit the ground and turned seeing Rocket Dart Striker aiming to strike him directly.

 _There’s nothing I can do…_ he shut his eyes but the attack didn’t make contact.

When he opened his eyes again there was a glowing blue aura around him, blocking the attack. He looked around, confused before he spotted someone in an alleyway of the field.

“Who…?” His eyes widened “Wait! You’re that kid I saw before!”

The boy winked, before smirking at Sylvio.

“Who in the world are you?!” Sylvio shouted “I was about to win!”

The blue haired boy walked over to Yuya, offering him a hand up. Yuya smiled thankfully and let the new person pull him to his feet before he realised how much smaller the kid was. The boy then turned his focus on Sylvio again.

“Yeah, I know you were going to win that’s why I played the action card _Corner Pocket_. I get to end the battle phase by sacrificing 1000 life points” He gestured to his screen which read:

**_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 3000_

Yuya blinked.

_Okay, so his name is Sora. Good to know._

“Plus I can special summon a monster from my hand when I activate this action card” he pulls one out of his hand “I think I’ll summon _Fluffal Dog_ in defence mode! But thanks to its special ability I can add _Fluffal Leo_ to my hand as well”

He held out a card with a cute lion with wings on it, then slid the card into his hand.

“Now…Sylvio isn’t it?” Sora asked “It’s still your turn”

Sylvio grits his teeth, glancing at his field and his hand. Nothing more that he could do really…

“Fine, turn over”

Sora smiles, glancing at Yuya.

“Am I allowed to go next?”

“Sure, lets see what you can do…uh Sora?”

Sora nods, then draws his next card.

“Alright, first I’m going to normal summon my _Fluffal Owl_! Whenever this card is summoned, I can add uh…Polymeri…Poly…” he groans “I always hate having to pronounce that, its Polymera-something”

He adds the card to his hand and Yuya’s eyes widened.

“ _Polymerization_?!”

“That’s the one!” Sora replied “Now, I’m gonna activate it to fuse my Fluffal Owl, Fluffal Dog and Fluffal Leo into one!”

He shows the Fluffal Leo card in his hand, three lights swirl together as the two monsters on his field vanish and he sends the monster in his hand to the graveyard. He holds his hands out a wide smile on his face.

“Night-time hunter, Ruler of the Jungle, Playful Canine! When the three come together, it’ll be a great time!” He clasped his hands together and shouted: “ **Fusion Summon!** Welcome the Powerful, prideful and adorable… _Fluffal Peacock!_ ”

Sora received shocked stares from Yuya and Sylvio before Yuya finally muttered:

“You can Fusion Summon?”

_Maybe he’s from LID then, that would make sense…_

“Yeah, everyone where I’m from can Fusion Summon. Its not too weird.”

“Oh…okay then” Yuya stared at Fluffal Peacock for minute “Its cute”

Sora laughed.

“All my monsters are cute…” then he paused thoughtful “Okay not all of them, but all my Fluffals are.”

The huge Peacock looked at Yuya and then lowered its head, nudging him gently. Sora stared in confusion.

“Weird…my monsters have never behaved like that before…”

Yuya started to laugh, bird feathers plus an extremely ticklish teen is a bad combo.

“Well I guess it likes me” Yuya jokes, gently rubbing the monster’s head “I like you too”

The Peacock squawked a little, fluffing up its feathers proudly and standing in front of Yuya and Sora with a sudden burst of confidence. Sora blinked even more confused but shook his head.

“Okay then…question for another time I guess” He looks back at Sylvio “When Fluffal Peacock is Fusion Summoned I can choose one special summoned monster on your field and add that monster’s current attack onto my monster’s. Hm…I think I’ll pick your Rocket Dart Striker.”

Fluffal Peacock lets out a loud screech and Rocket Dart Striker tries to cover its head as if to block out the sound and Fluffal Peacock’s attack rises to 2200.

“The downside is, Fluffal Peacock can’t attack on its first turn in play”

“So what was the point of playing it!?”

Sora chuckled, sliding a card into his duel disk.

“You’ll see. I place one card face down and end my turn” he looks at Yuya “Feel like picking up where I left off?”

Yuya nods confidently, he had no idea what exactly Sora had set up but this was hopefully going to end well.

“My move, draw!” he smiles “I activate the spell _Curtain Call_! I can choose up to two ‘Performapal’, ‘Odd-Eyes’ or ‘Magician’ monsters on my field and shuffle them into my deck so I can choose one monster on your field and return it to the deck. I choose Stargazer Magician and Performapal Safety Magician!”

The two Magicians bow before they burst into pixels and Yuya shuffles the cards back into his deck. Then Yuya points at Rocket Dart Striker.

“I return Rocket Dart Striker to your deck!”

Sylvio huffs, sliding the card into his deck and watching as the monster gets shuffled in. Stealth Dart Striker’s attack drops down to 1700 now that it’s the only ‘Dart Striker’ monster on the field.

Sora chuckles.

“Sorry to butt in but I have a trap to activate! _Fluffal Fun House_! Since I control the same number of monsters as you Sylvio I can add a ‘Fluffal’ monster to my hand and ‘Fluffal’ monsters I control can’t be destroyed by battle or card effects this turn” he pulls a card from his deck with a smile “I activate the effect of the monster I just added, _Fluffal Canary_!”

Yuya blinked, what exactly did this Sora kid have planned?

“Since I control a ‘Fluffal’ monster I can special summon this card from my hand, during either player’s turn. So come on out and join the fun Fluffal Canary” he winked at Yuya “Keep going”

Yuya raised an eyebrow but shrugged.

“Battle Phase! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks Stealth Dart Striker! **Spiral Flame Strike!** ”

Odd-Eyes rushed forward, flames forming in its mouth before it roared loudly, sending the black and red spiralling flames towards Stealth Dart Striker. Yuya then smirked, holding his hand up.

“When Odd-Eyes battles a monster that’s level 5 or above do you remember what it does Sylvio?”

Sylvio gulped.

“Double the damage.”

“Yup!” Yuya snapped his fingers “ **Reaction Force!** ”

The fire grew more intense till Stealth Dart Striker was sent flying backwards into a wall and burst into pixels.

**_Sylvio Sawatari  
_ ** _LP: 2000_

Odd-Eyes stomped back to Yuya letting out a proud roar. No one noticed that the tower holding Zuzu and the kids was looking really unstable…

“Hey, before you order another attack I’m going to jump in” Sora comments.

Yuya raises an eyebrow again but nods, gesturing for Sora to go. Not like he was going to order another attack, Block Spider once again had zero attack points. It would be a literally meaningless move.

“I activate Fluffal Canary’s special ability! Once during either player’s battle phase, I’m allowed to switch it into defence mode and choose one monster on the field. That monster will gain attack points equal to Fluffal Canary’s attack!” Sora gestured to Block Spider “I think Block Spider could benefit from a little power boost, don’t you?”

Block Spider squeaked happily as its attack points rose to 1200. Sora smirked at Sylvio.

“Now, you might be thinking: ‘What could that spider possibly do to me with only 1200 attack points?’ and you’d be right, with only 1200 attack points its not like it can defeat you…however…” Sora holds up another card in his hand “This might change that up”

Sylvio stared concerned, shooting looks between Block Spider and Sora.

“I play the spell _Fluffal Candy_! I can tribute one ‘Fluffal’ monster I control and then I can choose any monster on the field to have its attack points doubled till the end of this turn” he looked at Fluffal Canary “My Canary has done its job for now, so I’m going to tribute it to double Block Spider’s attack points”

Yuya’s eyes widened as Block Spider’s attack rose to 2400. He shot a look to Sora.

“You were planning to power up Block Spider the whole time, weren’t you?”

“Yup, I noticed you were trying to prove a point with it, so I thought I might as well help, now go on. Still your move and I think I know what you want to do”

Yuya nodded excitedly, suddenly any lights that were in the area went off. Sora blinked in confusion, looking around before a spotlight landed on Yuya.

“ _Ladies and gentlemen!_ ” Yuya announces, stretching out the words to an obnoxious amount “This is my wonderful friend Block Spider”

He gestures to the spider, which has a little spotlight over it.

“Now, my opponent said Block Spider was a useless card but as you’ve all seen with the right support Block Spider is a force to be reckoned with!” he gestures to Sylvio “Now, Block Spider is going to prove that to our _clearly_ still disbelieving opponent”

Sora stared at him.

_What is he doing? This is all really just a performance to him isn’t it?_

“Watch in amazement as my new friend attacks Sylvio directly, go Block Spider and Odd-Eyes, the little guy could use a hand getting across the river, mind helping out?”

Odd-Eyes nods, using its head to get Block Spider on its back. Then it let out a might roar, leaping _over_ the river! Block Spider jumped off the dragon’s back and shot web right at Sylvio.

The duelist got pinned to the wall by the web and Block Spider landed in front of him, squeaking proudly.

**_Sylvio Sawatari_ ** **  
** _LP: 0_

**_Winner: Yuya Sakaki and Sora Perse!_ **

Odd-Eyes let out a second roar, shooting some fire into the sky which practically exploded into highly obnoxious fireworks. Yuya chuckles, wagging his finger at the dragon.

“Hey, hey, Odd-Eyes, we don’t show off like that”

Odd-Eyes snorted, looking away like an upset toddler. That’s when they noticed the Action Field around them started to dissipate and there was crumbling sounds behind them where the field _hadn’t_ vanished yet.

“Zuzu! The kids!” He looks up to Timegazer Magician still in the Pendulum zone “Quickly, don’t let them fall!”

The Magician nods, gliding up and out of the zone catching Frederick and Ally quickly. But he didn’t exactly have the hands to catch Zuzu and Tate as they were falling. Thank god for Fluffal Peacock.

It rushed froward, catching the two on its back and gently helping them to the ground as Timegazer did the same.

Zuzu sighed in relief, dropping the floor.

“Oh that was too close”

“Thanks Timegazer!” Ally smiled.

“Ya! Thank you!”

Tate smiled widely at the Peacock.

“Thanks”

The Peacock puffed up its feathers again, looking very proud of itself. Yuya chuckled, walking up to it and giving it a quick pat on the head.

“Thank you for helping my friends, I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to them”

The monster squawked and moments later the remainder of the duel vanished, monsters included. Sora was staring at Yuya confused as heck, but instead of voicing his confusion he walked over and offered a hand to Yuya.

“I didn’t introduce myself, did I?” He smiles “My name is Sora, its awesome to meet you”

“Yuya Sakaki, and same” Yuya replies, shaking his hand “Are you a student at Leo?”

“No, I was thinking about it but…” Sora sucks on the remainder of his lollipop “Watching your dueling changed my mind, that was so much fun. I kinda want to learn from you now!”

“Me!?” Yuya shook his head “I’m not really a teacher!”

“Aww come on! I could call you Coach Y and everything! It’d be fun!”

“I don’t exactly know, I mean jeez, I _just_ met you!”

“Fine” Sora huffed “We’ll talk about this some other time”

Zuzu laughed before standing up.

“My name is Zuzu, thanks for helping out”

Sora nodded in acknowledgement but stared at her strangely. The other kids quickly introduced themselves and started gushing over Sora’s fusion summoning.

“Its not a big deal, like I said, everyone knows how to fusion summon where I’m from.” He then looked at Yuya “Hey can I ask you something?”

“Sure”

“Why do you-”

He didn’t have time to finish that sentence, he heard Sylvio yelling at his three friends to take the Pendulum cards from Yuya by force. Sora turned to look at them and his eyes narrowed, before anyone could even process what happened Sora had moved.

In seconds all four were on the ground, barely moving and Sora was walking calmly back to Yuya and the others. His now finished lollipop stick laying on the ground a little distance away from the LID students.

Zuzu stared in disbelief.

“You…just…are they alright?”

Sora nodded, pulling another lollipop out of his pocket and tearing the wrapping off.

“Yeah, of course. Just unconscious.” He sucked on his lollipop noticing the weird stares he was getting “I just caught ‘em off guard is all, not a big deal”

Yuya blinked in shock, not really able to find the words to describe how he felt about that. Sora walked ahead, leaving his earlier question for later.

“Come on, why don’t we blow this popsicle stand?”

Yuya glances at the others then nods.

“Yeah…lets get out of here…Principle Boyle might be wondering why we’re not at You Show already”

“Is that your duel school?” Sora asked, instantly curious.

Zuzu nods.

“Yeah, Yuya’s father created it. My father looks after it and teaches there!” She smiles “Hey! If you want teaching, maybe you should enrol there?”

“Hm…” Sora nods “Sounds like fun, I’ll check it out!”

\---------------------------------

“Sir?”

“What is it?”

“Do you want me to get someone to retrieve the cards?”

The teen hums thoughtfully before shaking his head.

“No, I think perhaps for now we would do better to observe than intervene. Keep a close eye on the You Show Duel School…I get the strangest feeling things are going to get rather interesting around it”

“Yes Sir”

The teen glanced at him.

“Has anything come up from that background check I ordered?”

“Nothing of interest really sir, nothing you didn’t already know” the staff member starts before noticing the look on the President’s face and continuing anyway “He’s been a student of You Show Duel School his whole life as you already knew, took after his father’s dueling style and acts as one of the most experienced members of You Show nowadays”

“Anything else?” The teen asked, “No matter how trivial, I want to know it”

“His ace monster has always been the Odd-Eyes Dragon until it mysteriously changed during the duel against the Sledgehammer alongside several of his other cards.” He hums “Actually, I did look into Yuya’s deck. While a lot of his cards are from the ‘Performapal’ archetype, there are some oddities. His Timegazer Magician and Stargazer Magician for example”

“Why are they oddities?” The teen asked “Yuya’s deck and even his father’s deck always featured a large number of Magicians alongside the ‘Performapal’ archetype”

“Well, its just…most of Yuya’s cards that have always been in his deck…are cards that appear to uh not exist.”

“Wait…what?”

“As I said, they don’t exist. They don’t show up in any card database I’ve checked. The most primary examples are, in fact, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and his Timegazer and Stargazer Magicians. Yuya is the only one who possesses cards under those names”

The teen frowned. Now that his assistant brought it up that was true and in the back of his mind, he realised how obvious that would’ve been. After all he’d made quite the effort to ensure his knowledge of the Duel Monsters card game was impeccable. He could name almost any card when asked…yet he only noticed now how strange Yuya’s deck was…

_How did I never notice that…? My family spent endless amounts of time with the Sakaki’s when I was younger, how did I never notice that Yuya’s deck seemed…off?_

“Sir? Is that all?”

The teen sighed and nodded.

“For now yes” then a thought came to mind “Actually, just before you go, I also want you to analyse that Fusion Summoning signal that came through during Yuya and Sylvio’s duel”

“Didn’t it come from that young man? Sora?”

“Yes, but I want to know exactly how powerful that signal is. Understand?”

“Yes sir”

“Alright, you are dismissed”

The assistant nodded and left the office, the teen leaned back in his chair sighing. Was all this a sign of bad things ahead? That was probably likely…

_Perhaps its time I rekindle my relationship with the Sakaki’s...it could be a good way to understand the nature of Yuya’s whole…situation._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuya’s Custom Cards:  
> Magician’s Crystal [Trap - Counter: If your opponent’s monster declares a direct attack and there are “magician” cards in play on either side of the field negate the attack and for the rest of this turn battle damage you receive is halved. If this card is in your graveyard you may banish it and add any cards to your hand who’s effects have been negated but they are banished in your end phase.]
> 
> Final Performance [Spell: If you control no monsters, banish two “Performapal” monsters from your graveyard and draw two cards]  
> Performapal Empty Recital [Trap - Counter: If a spell card you control would have its effects negated you may add one “Performapal” monster from your deck to your hand]
> 
> Performapal Safety Magician [Level 3 – Scale 4 – Wind – ATK:300/DEF:2000 – Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect: Normal Effect: When this card is Pendulum summoned all monsters on your opponent’s field have their effects negated. Target one monster on your field and increase its attack points by this cards defence points until the end of your next turn. This card may switch places with any “Magician” monster in your Pendulum zones. Pendulum Effect: Select one “Odd-Eyes”, “Performapal” or “Magician” monster you control, that monster may attack each of your opponent’s special summoned monsters once.]
> 
> Curtain Call [Spell: Choose up to 2 “Performapal”, “Odd-Eyes” or “Magician” cards on your field and shuffle them back into your deck. If you do so, select one monster on your opponent’s field and shuffle it into their deck]  
> \----  
> Sylvio’s Custom Cards:  
> Dart Disruption [Spell – Quick Play - Discard one card and negate the effects of one spell card on your opponent’s field] 
> 
> Sharp Shooting [Spell – Continuous - As long as you have a ‘Dart Striker’ monster in your graveyard you may select one monster on your field which is allowed to attack directly. No monsters on your opponent’s field can be destroyed by battle so long as this card is in play. During each main phase after this card’s activation pay 500 life points or destroy this card]  
> \----  
> Sora’s Custom Cards:  
> Fluffal Peacock [Level 6 – Earth – ATK: 300/DEF: 1000 – Fusion/Fairy/Effect: 3 “Fluffal” monsters. When this card is Fusion Summoned select 1 Special Summoned monster on your opponent’s field and this card gains attack points equal to that card’s attack. This card cannot attack the first turn its in play.]
> 
> Fluffal Fun House: [Trap: If you control the same number of monsters as your opponent you can add 1 “Fluffal” card to your hand, “Fluffal” Monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects this turn]
> 
> Fluffal Canary [Level 3 – Earth – ATK: 1200/DEF: 800 – Fairy/Effect: If you control a “Fluffal” or “Frightfur” monster you can special summon this card from your hand during either player’s turn. Once during either player’s battle phase you can switch this card to defence mode and select 1 monster on the field, that monster gains attack points equal to “Fluffal Canary’s” attack]
> 
> Fluffal Candy [Spell – Quick Play - Tribute one “Fluffal” Monster you control then select one other monster on either side of the field. That card’s attack points are doubled until the end of this turn]  
> \------  
> Custom Action Cards:  
> Corner Pocket [Action Spell: Pay 1000 life points, end the battle phase and special summon one monster from your hand]  
> \------------------  
> I think that’s all the custom cards lol XD Initially, Sora wasn’t going to get involved in the duel just like he didn’t in the canon but uh…I guess it kinda just happened XD I had an idea, tested it in a duel script and decided Sora was getting involved. ^^ I gave him a Fluffal Fusion monster so he seemed just as cute and innocent as I genuinely thought he was when watching ARC-V!
> 
> I hope the duel was good ^^ This was my first, mostly original duel. Since I basically didn’t change anything from Episode 1 and 2s duels. This time, I added more Darts monsters, even if Yuya still used the ‘Block Lock’ Strategy (which is an awesome strategy, I love it, I’ve used it in the actual card game, I freaking. Love. It. XD), I made the duel play out a lot differently ^^ See you next episode!


	5. Scale 5 - Scary Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuya gets sick of Sora's begging for him to be his teacher, thus a duel ensues to decide whether Yuya will actually teach Sora or not. Sora pulls out a few surprises in the presence of someone from Yuya's past...

“For the _last time_ I do _not_ want to be your teacher!”

Sora pouted, looking at Yuya with the best puppy eyes he could manage. He’d been begging all day, everyday for the last four days and Yuya had adamantly _refused_ to be a teacher.

The whole thing was insanely irritating. After all, who was Yuya to teach Sora!? Sora was a Fusion Summoner and pretty good one if the few matches he’s watched of the boy was any proof, why did Sora need instruction from him!?

“Stop looking at me like that, I’m not going to change my mind!”

“Oh come on Coach Y-”

“And _stop calling me Coach!_ ”

“But _Yuya_ ~!” Sora dragged out the teen’s name, looking up at him “ _Please…?_ ”

“No. Means. No!”

Zuzu poked her head in, raising an eyebrow.

“Yuya, why won’t you just teach him something?”

Yuya stood up, looking at Zuzu with a pleading expression.

“Zuzu, please, I’m no teacher! I’m still learning myself, besides that you’ve seen how far we drive your dad up the wall during classes, I don’t want to teach. It’d drive me crazy”

Sora huffed, crossing his arms.

“Are you saying I’d be an annoying student?”

“Yes. You’re already annoyi-ow! Hey! Zuzu, what was that for?!” Yuya shouted, rubbing the now forming lump where Zuzu had unceremoniously whacked him with her fan.

_Where the hell does she keep that thing!?_ Yuya thought irritably.

“ _Surely_ you boys can come up with some kind of compromise, can’t you?” Zuzu insisted.

“Yeah. He stops asking me to…” Yuya trails off, seeing the furious aura emanating from Zuzu, he chuckles awkwardly “I’ll uh…think over it tonight…?”

He tenses up and shuts his eyes prepared for another hit but one never comes. He opens one eye, peeking at Zuzu who nods approvingly.

“That’s better” she smiles, her fan mysteriously disappearing.

Yuya chuckled, picking up his bag.

“Sora, if you’ll _stop asking_ for _one_ night, I’ll get back to you about it in the morning. Deal?”

Sora nods satisfied with that.

“Okay, sounds good Coach Y! Meet you back here!” He runs off with Yuya loudly shouting after him:

“Don’t call me Coach!!”

\---------------

“Sir, we’ve done as you asked and gone over the summoning signal. We did the same for all subsequent Fusion Signals we detected in You Show”

The President nods, resting his head on his hands as he stares at his assistant.

“Go on”

“As I suspect you already guessed, it’s a highly powerful Fusion signal. We’ve cross-referenced it with some Leo Students in the Fusion course as well as some of your own Fusion summons sir and…its exceptional…”

“More powerful than any of them?”

“Correct”

The President hums in thought.

“This is all quite intriguing…” he then nods as if he’s come to a decision.

“What is it?”

“I don’t have anything pressing to attend to tomorrow, do I?”

“Uh…” his assistant quickly looked through the tablet he was holding then shook his head “Not that I can tell sir”

“Good. Keep my schedule clear for tomorrow if you please” the President stands up, heading to the door.

“As you wish sir…but If I may ask, what should I tell people you are doing?”

The teen just turns and gives his assistant a look before saying:

“No one needs to know what I’m doing, its personal business to anyone and everyone who isn’t my mother. If she calls, feel free to tell her that I’m visiting You Show Duel School due to some…strange occurrences recently”

“Yes sir”

“Please, only contact me tomorrow if it’s an emergency.”

“Yes sir!”

\-----------------------

“And I just don’t know what to do!” Yuya finishes.

He’d just spent the last hour describing the situation with Sora, it _wouldn’t_ have taken that long to explain if he hadn’t kept going off on a venting spree every few seconds. Yoko hummed thoughtfully as she put dinner together before smiling at her son.

“Well, if he’s so set to learn, why won’t you teach?”

“I. Don’t. Teach, Mum!” Yuya complained “But he isn’t going to back off….”

“You could always make some kind of bet, you do that a lot with Gong and Zuzu, why not challenge him to a duel and if you win tell him he can’t be your student?”

Yuya titled his head thoughtfully.

“Actually…that’s a really good idea! Dang, I should’ve thought of that sooner!” He frowns “Though…I’m a little worried I might lose”

“What? Really?”

“Sora isn’t just some random kid mum, this dude can _Fusion summon_! I’ve watched him duel, he’s a force to be reckoned with…”

Yoko turned to her son with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She walked over and ruffled his hair up, before pulling the goggles that he had around his neck up and onto his head.

“Well, you’re Yuya Sakaki. You’re _my_ son, you are _definitely_ not a duelist to be taken lightly either” she says “No matter how good this new friend of yours is, I don’t think you’ll let him win all that easily”

“…true.” Yuya chuckles, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Odd-Eyes as his mother returned to cooking “What do you think bud? Up for dueling Sora?”

Yoko shakes her head, looking away and eventually hearing her son chuckle.

“Knew you’d agree”

She always wondered if she should say something about how much her son spoke to his cards, treating them as if they we’re alive and honestly…. Had it not been for her husband she might’ve already done so. But Yusho’s words would forever echo in her mind and she would end up keeping her mouth sealed shut.

_“But Yusho, shouldn’t we say something about this? Explain to Yuya that the monsters are not real?” She had asked all those years ago._

_“My dear, like you said this is most likely just Yuya being a child. If that’s the case, he’ll grow out of it with time, if we broke the illusion now it might just ruin the fun for him and I’d hate to do that”_

_“I know but…” Yusho had put a hand on her shoulder with one of those signature smiles that seemed to make all her problems go away._

_“And, if it isn’t just Yuya being a child and it persists well…”_

_They’d both looked towards Yuya, who was still young enough that his goggles looked obnoxiously large on his head. He’d been sitting down drawing as they’d had this conversation._

_“Well, maybe it means something special. I really don’t think its our place to intervene, even as his parents” Yusho said calmly “Whatever the case Yoko, this is something I think Yuya is meant to work out on his own”_

Yoko sighed as she started plating up dinner. She wouldn’t say anything about it, it wasn’t causing problems and honestly, in the three years Yusho had been missing she suspected it had done Yuya some good to feel like he had friends who he could confide in about anything without feeling like he’s being a burden…that’d always been one of the main reasons he hardly talked about issues he had with anyone else.

Yoko could tell, she could always tell. It was her job as his mother to be able to tell when those kinds of thoughts were going through Yuya’s head. If him acting a little strange every now and again was the cost for Yuya to feel safe and happy, then there was no reason she should intervene.

“Okay, dinners ready! Go wash your hands Yuya”

“Got it mum, be right back!” he replied with a smile, running off.

\----------------------------------------

Its was later the next day, after school had finished. Yuya was standing at the entrance to You Show, duel disk already on his arm and a smirk so wide it was clear he was up to something.

He pushed the door open, dropped his bag on the floor and was almost immediately greeted by Sora.

“Hey! _So?_ ” He asks “Will you teach me?”

Yuya chuckles.

“On one condition.”

“Oh! What is it?”

“Beat me in a duel” Yuya replies, revelling in the hint of surprise on Sora’s face “You win and you can call me coach all you want and I’ll teach you whatever I can…or at least I’ll try. If I win though, you’ve gotta back off.”

Sora hums thoughtfully, tilting his head as he thought about it. Honestly the idea of duelling Yuya was something that had been on his mind ever since Yuya duelled Sylvio. He wanted to see exactly what Yuya was capable of…and what those Pendulum cards were capable of too.

“Alright, sure! But can we eat first, I can’t duel on an empty stomach!”

“I completely agree!”

Yuya and Sora turned, hearing the familiar – to Yuya anyway – voice. Sora stared as Yuya’s mother and Zuzu burst through the door. Yuya’s eyes widened.

“Is that lunch you’re holding!?” He asks excitedly, running up to the box Yoko was holding.

“Yup”

“Uh…Yuya who’s this?” Sora asked.

“Oh, this is my mum!” Then Yuya stepped back a little and gestured to Sora “Mum, this is Sora Perse, the duellist I told you about.”

“Nice to meet you Sora, lets have something to eat, shall we?”

Zuzu giggled.

“Your mum just couldn’t help it, she wanted to see your duel” she explained.

Yuya laughed.

“That’s about right, it _was_ her idea”

\-------------------------------------

“So…this is the You Show Duel School…” The Grey haired teen muttered, staring up at the building “Its been a long time…and it hasn’t changed a bit”

He pulled a hood over his head and peeked inside, seeing that the group was just preparing for a match. Closer inspection marked only Yuya and Sora going into the dueling arena…what timing.

_The day I decide to visit the school happens to be the day Sora Perse and Yuya Sakaki end up dueling…I can’t decide if this is good luck or a bad omen._

“Well, no sense dwelling over it”

He stepped inside just in time to hear Yoko say:

“I’ll just watch from here while I clean up, thank goodness there’s screens!” then she added “Skip, you had better make sure that duel is showing on the screen! I want to see my Yuya win, understood?”

A distant ‘yes, of course Yoko’ echoes back and the woman laughs.

“I see I may have interrupted”

Yoko freezes, standing up straight to face the teen, who was slightly taller than she was. There was shock etched on her face.

“You’ve…grown, I almost didn’t recognise you”

“Hm, well, it _has_ been three years Mrs. Sakaki. It’s no surprise.”

Yoko put her hands on her hips, huffing loudly.

“Excuse me, but the last time I saw you, you were probably just shorter than Yuya is now. Don’t blame me for being a little surprised”

“I see you haven’t changed”

“Not in the slightest” She winks “Why are you here though?”

The teen looks up at the screen, watching Sora and Yuya getting set up.

“Several reasons. Many I’m not inclined to share…”

“Well, I can’t force you” She sighs, looking up at the screen “Suppose I should just go watch from the observation room and clean up later…why don’t you join me? I’ll introduce you to the students and I’m sure Yuya would love to see you”

The teen genuinely laughed at that, adjusting his glasses.

“Sorry Mrs. Sakaki, that’s sweet of you to offer but you may not have noticed when we were younger, Yuya never much liked me or my father. I highly doubt he’d be glad to see me…I think its better he doesn’t know I was here”

“Well, its hardly fun to sit here and watch the duel all by yourself. If you intend to stay, I may as well stay with you”

“I really don’t want to be a burden”

“Nonsense, you’re no burden. Besides, I’d like to catch up”

The teen sighs and nods, Yoko Sakaki was just as stubborn as he remembered. Not that he minded it all that much, at least he could ask questions…though he’d have to be tactful about it. No need to give Yoko reasons to distrust him.

“So, who is the young man with the blue hair?” He starts “He must be a friend of Yuya’s as they’re duelling”

“Yes, a new friend. I just met him myself today. His name is Sora, apparently he’s a Fusion Summoner and a pretty good one” Yoko replies “He wanted Yuya to be his teacher or something, which Yuya didn’t like the idea of”

She gestures to the screen.

“Hence, I suggested they duel to decide whether Yuya will teach him or not”

“Clever…”

_Why would Sora ask Yuya to teach him? Is he really just a strangely skilled Fusion User? Or is there some other reason…?_

\----------------------------

_“Alright!”_ Skip announced _“I activate the Action Field_ Sweets Island! _I think its perfect for our confectionary loving Sora!”_

The field spell slowly appeared around them and Sora’s eyes widened, he rushed from section to section, giggling like a giddy child.

“Oh. My. God! Coach Y, look at this!”

“Sora, you’re not allowed to call me that unless you win” Yuya replied.

Sora pouted but nodded, getting into position.

“Well, don’t you worry Yuya, I will win”

“We’ll see, won’t we?”

Sora smirks. He’s seen Yuya in action, he’s sure he knows what to expect.

_He’s a good duellist yeah, but he puts too much focus on that ‘dueltaining’ thing. He doesn’t duel seriously enough to beat me, even if I hold back. Still…no need to go …_ too _easy on him._

“I’ll go first if you don’t mind Yuya?”

Yuya nods.

“Go for it”

**_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

Sora glances at his hand and his smirk widens, perfect.

“First up, I summon my Fluffal Owl! I’m sure you remember what this card does right Yuya?”

Yuya blinked.

_Oh yeah, he summoned that against Sylvio. What did it do again…?_ His eyes widened _Oh…_

“You can Polymerization to your hand”

“Correct-a-mundo!” Sora chuckles, slipping the card into his hand “Next I activate _Toy Vendor_! I can discard a card to draw another and if it’s a ‘Fluffal’ Monster I can special summon 1 monster from my hand otherwise I have to send it to the graveyard”

Sora hummed, looking at his hand before choosing a card to send away.

“I’ll discard _Fluffal Wings_ to activate Toy Vendor’s effect! I can’t wait to see what I’m gonna get!” Sora draws and smiles widely “Aha! I’ll special summon the Fluffal monster I just drew, _Fluffal Wolf_!”

Yuya had to resist the urge to ‘aww’ at the cute little blue wolf with wings that appeared. However, it seems everyone else watching didn’t care to resist the ‘awws’.

Sora chuckled.

“Guess they like it” he turned back to Yuya “When Fluffal Wolf is summoned, I can add a ‘Fluffal’ or ‘Edge Imp’ spell or trap to my hand”

Yuya nodded along before he froze for a second.

_Edge Imp?_ He wondered, _Does Sora have more than one archetype in his deck?_

That in itself wasn’t too big a surprise, Yuya himself mixed archetypes with his Performapal and Magician monsters but it was the names of the archetypes that threw him off. At the very least, Yuya mixing worked. All his monsters, Performapal or not, suited the ‘Performer’ theme he focused his deck on.

But Fluffals were cute little animals with wings, that fused into slightly bigger cute animals with wings…

So…what were Edge Imps? And why was Yuya suddenly getting a very, _very_ bad feeling about this duel?

“I’m adding _Edge Imp Sharpener_ to my hand.” Sora puts the card in his hand then holds out Polymerization “Guess its time, I play Polymerization to fuse my Fluffal Owl and Fluffal Wolf together!”

The two monsters turned into a swirl of colours behind Sora, he held his hands out a wide grin on his face.

“Night-time hunter and gleaming golden eyes! When the two come together, you’re in for a surprise!” Sora clasped his hands together “ **Fusion Summon!** The ethereal, elegant and masterful… _Fluffal Siren_!”

Yuya whistled a little, impressed.

“Nice to see you pulling out your Fusion Summoning right away Sora” he says “This’ll be fun”

“When Fluffal Wolf is used for a Fusion Summon, the Fusion monster gains 1000 attack”

Fluffal Siren’s attack rose from 500 to 1500, then Sora raised his hand.

“When Fluffal Siren is Fusion Summoned I can add one ‘Edge Imp’ or ‘Fluffal’ monster to my hand, so I’m adding _Fluffal Kitten_!” Sora smiles “With that I’m ending my turn, since I can’t attack and all”

Yuya nods.

“Nice, nice. Let’s see if I can match that”

\------------------------

“I’ve never known Yuya to be so calm, has he really changed that much?” The teen asked curiously.

Yoko laughed, shaking her head.

“Actually no, he’s just being cautious. We spoke last night about this; he was pretty worried he might lose to Sora.” She hums thoughtfully “Means Sora must be one tough opponent, Yuya isn’t normally one to voice his concerns about losing”

“That’s true I suppose” He glances back at the screen.

_That was an incredibly powerful Fusion Summon. I could feel it from here…though I get the feeling Sora is holding back. If he has another archetype in his deck then the fact he seems to only be using the ‘Fluffal’ monsters at the moment is suspicious…_

\--------------------------

“Alright, I’m summoning _Performapal Flip Hippo!_ ”

The little Hippo appeared looking pretty smug and extremely mischievous. Yuya chuckled.

“But he’s not alone, because whenever I normal summon him I can special summon a second ‘Performapal’ monster from my hand, just with its effects negated for the turn” He holds up a card “Here’s a good friend of mine, Performapal Hip Hippo!”

The Pink Hippo appeared, tipping its top hat before realising it was next Flip Hippo…what ensued next was the most confusing few seconds of Sora’s young life.

Hip Hippo squeaked in terror and ran behind Yuya, in response Flip Hippo snickered and chased after it. Yuya was turning his head rapidly, trying to follow the two hippos as Flip Hippo chased its brighter look alike around Yuya.

“Oh god” Yuya groaned, holding a hand to his head “You two are making me dizzy!”

Hip Hippo pouted, bopping Flip Hippo on the nose. The darker Hippo look irritated and tried to chomp down on Hip Hippo’s tail as the pink hippo turned to run again, Yuya groaned again and kneeled down. He pushed the two hippos away from each other with a stern glare.

“Flip Hippo, Hip Hippo, chill out. We’re duelling Sora not each other” He says calmly “Now come on, all this fighting is hardly entertaining”

Hip Hippo squeaked again and hid behind Yuya again, Yuya chuckled and patted his monster on the head.

“Hey, Hey. Don’t worry, I know he scares you a little but Flip Hippo isn’t dangerous, just mischievous” Yuya looks at Flip Hippo “You’re going to behave yourself, _aren’t you?_ ”

Flip Hippo huffs and nods, before turning away like an angry child. Yuya stood up, blinking at the look Sora was giving him.

“What was that about?” Sora asked.

“Oh” he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck “Sorry, don’t mind them. Flip Hippo and Hip Hippo don’t really get along, so I don’t usually summon them together. Don’t worry, they’ll be fine now.”

Sora narrowed his eyes in confusion.

“Huh?”

_They’re just holograms. Sure, they’re programmed to react to the environment and respond to their duellist but…they shouldn’t have to ‘get along’ that doesn’t make sense…what is Yuya on about?_

Yuya didn’t notice Sora’s apparent confusion and instead continued his turn.

“I activate the field spell, _Performapal Dramatic Theatre!_ ” the field spell appeared, covering up Yuya’s half of the field with a huge stage and theatre.

Sora pouted.  
“Aw…why would you get rid of the sweets?!”

“Because a Performer needs a stage Sora!” Yuya announced, walking onto the stage with Hip Hippo and Flip Hippo trailing behind him “And this stage comes with a power up! Any monsters I control gain 200 attack for every monster I control that has a different type. Meaning both my hippos get 200 more attack points as they’re both beast types”

The Hippos cheered as their attack points both rose to 1000.

“Sure, not a _huge_ power boost right now, but it’ll help in the end! I’ll set this card face down and end my turn for now!”

\-----------------------

“…Does Yuya still do that?”

Yoko blinked, looking at the teenager.

“Do what?”

“Does Yuya still do…that?” The teenager replied, barely clarifying instead he just pointed to the screen.

Yoko sighed nodding.

“Yeah, Yusho didn’t want me to intervene and tell him they weren’t real so…I haven’t. I kinda assumed he’d grow out of it but…”

“He never did” The teen muttered “Curious though, why don’t the others find it strange?”

“They’re performers, goodness” Yoko replied with a chuckle “They all do it in duels to a certain extent, interacting with your monsters like that makes the duel more entertaining.”

“Of course, that makes sense” He hummed “Sora seems confused though”

“Oh…I…I think I should’ve warned him now that you mention it…” She looks down worriedly “Hm…”

“…Don’t worry too much about it, Mrs. Sakaki. you can’t exactly do anything about it now”

“Yes, I suppose not…”

The teen leaned back on the couch he was now sitting on, arms folded and his gaze locked on the duel. He could vividly recall his last interaction with Yuya Sakaki, however many years ago it was now.

If Yuya hadn’t grown out of the impression that the monsters he summoned had some form of life…well, that could mean several things. One possibility the teen’s mind came up with was due to Yusho’s disappearance. Of course, that made perfect sense…but…it was one of those things where he just _didn’t_ feel like it had that simple an answer.

_Well, perhaps our young Fusion duellist will get curious enough to ask. That would save me having to interact with Yuya for the time being…_

\--------------------

“Okay then!” Sora smiles “I discard this spell card from my hand to activate Toy Vendor again”

Yuya frowned, what spell? He tried to catch a peek of it, but Sora discarded it far too quickly.

“Draw! Argh dang it!” Sora pouted “Its not a Fluffal monster so I have to send it to the graveyard”

“Better luck next time Sora”

“Its okay, I have a Fluffal Monster in my hand. I summon Fluffal Kitten!” Sora smirked “Now, battle phase!”

Yuya tensed up, eyes already scanning the environment for some action cards. Sora pointed to Flip Hippo.

“Fluffal Siren! Attack Flip Hippo!” Sora then gestures to Fluffal Kitten “When my Kitten comes out to play all my ‘Fluffal’ monsters gain 500 attack points during the battle phase! Increasing Fluffal Siren’s attack to 2000!”

Yuya blinked.

“Uh oh…” His eyes darted around again before he spotted a card “Hip Hippo, come here!”

The pink hippo turned towards Yuya and let him climb on its back. Sora tilted his head, following Yuya’s gaze and then he snorted in amusement.

“Yuya, that’s way too far away, you’ll never reach it”

“We’ll see! Move it Hip Hippo!”

Instantly Hip hippo charged ff, bounding up the gigantic sweets that covered the majority of the field.

_Time to show Sora why he doesn’t underestimate a Dueltainer._

He quickly pushed himself off of Hip Hippo, snatching the card and activating it as he fell from a high up part of the field.

“I activate the action spell _Candy Shower!_ It switches Fluffal Siren into defence mode, putting the brakes on its attack!” he hit the ground and back flipped into a more stable position before smirking at Sora “Well? Impressed?”

Fluffal Siren stopped inches away from Flip Hippo and walked back over to Sora, sitting down and munching on the candy that had dropped from the sky.

“Argh!” he folded his arms irritably. “Yes…but I hate it. I hate that I’m impressed”

Yuya chuckled, shrugging.

“You do you Sora”

Sora huffed, pointing at Hip Hippo.

“Fluffal Kitten, take out Hip Hippo!”

Yuya’s eyes widened.

“But…it only 700 attack points! Hip Hippo wins!”

The hippo squeaks confidently. Sora just smirks, glancing behind him.

“You’re not the only one who can use action cards Yuya” he turns and bounds up the side of a gingerbread house, snatching a card and sliding it into his duel disk “I activate _Nanana_! Raising Fluffal Kitten’s attack points by 700!”

“Crap, 1400!” Yuya turned, jumping up some more sweets and barely managing to reach another action card “I play Evasion! Hip Hippo dances out of the way of your attack!”

Hip Hippo literally does, it dances away from Fluffal Kitten before poking its tongue out at it. Fluffal Kitten just hisses in response. Yuya slowly climbs down and gently pats both his monsters on the head.

“Great job you guys” he smiles at Sora “Jeez Sora, you’re giving me a workout”

Sora huffs.

“Yeah, well. Turn over” he says calmly “Now that the battle phase is over, my monsters attack points return to normal”

_Yuya clearly isn’t taking this very seriously, playing around with dancing hippos and candy showers…if I want to see what he’s really made of I may have to get serious myself…_

Yuya tilts his head in confusion then shrugs, drawing his next card.

“Oh, awesome! I summon _Performapal Lizardraw!_ Since it’s a Reptile type monster, Performapal Dramatic theatre increases all my monsters attack by another 200!”

Hip Hippo and Flip Hippo’s attack points rise to 1200, whereas Performapal Lizardraw’s 1200 attack points rise to 1600.

“Now I’ll use the effect of my Performapal Hip Hippo, who can be counted as two monsters for this tribute summon!”

Hip Hippo cheers and tips its top hat before bursting into golden sparkles which all reform into the very familiar form of Yuya’s ace monster.

“Welcome to the battle my Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

Odd-Eyes lets out a loud roar as its attack points rise to 3100 through the effect of Performapal Dramatic Theatre. Yuya runs over to it and it lowers its head a little, giving Yuya room to climb on.

“Loud and proud as always Odd-Eyes?”

Odd-Eyes lets out a low but confident growl, eyes set on Sora. Yuya holds a hand out.

“Battle phase, Performapal Flip Hippo attack Fluffal Kitten!”

“Fluffal Kitten’s attack rises to 700 due to its effect!”

“Won’t save it!”

Flip Hippo runs over to the kitten and harshly whacks it on the head, the poor Kitten yelps and burst into pixels.

**_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 3600_

“Next up, Performapal Lizardraw attack Fluffal Siren”

Sora smirks.

_Since Yuya switched Fluffal Siren into defence mode last turn, I won’t take any damage at leas- wait why is he smiling?_

Yuya suddenly pats Odd-Eyes on the head, the dragon roars, and charges forward. Yuya holds his hand outstretched as they rush past a cookie like street sign. He slides an action card into his duel disk.

“Perfect, the action spell _Enticing Sweets_ , switching Fluffal Siren to attack mode!”

Sora gasped, damn it! Yuya really knew his way around this action field, it was as if he knew where all the cards were initially-

_Wait, did he look around while I wasn’t looking? The Hippos!_ Now it made sense, the hippos chased each other around, acting all silly and while Sora was distracted with that Yuya must’ve been subtly scanning the area to find action cards.

Sora barely flinched when Fluffal Siren was destroyed and his life points dropped even more.

**_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 3300_

“Now, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Attack Sora directly! **Spiral Flame Strike!** ”

Sora stared the dragon head on, its currently 3100 attack points coming his way. Alright, so he’d underestimated Yuya just the slightest bit…he knew Yuya practically grew up on action fields …so of _course_ Yuya had grown accustom to spotting Action cards quicker than most…

**_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 200_

Yuya chuckled and bowed.

“Thank you, thank you! But for now, the Yuya half of this show is over! Now its time for my opponent to show off his stuff!” Yuya gently patted Odd-Eyes’ head “Great job partner”

Sora gritted his teeth, but Yuya _still_ wasn’t taking this seriously! He was too busy talking to the bloody monsters!

\------------------------------

“Yuya moves around the action field like lightning…” the teen acknowledged “Far better than some of my Leo students…”

“Well, it’s in his blood”

“True” He glanced at Yoko then back at Yuya’s duel, would now be an appropriate time to ask another question?

_Well, I can’t really put it off…_

“If I may ask, how long has Yuya had Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon for?” Then he paused and clarified “Well, more accurately, just the Odd-Eyes Dragon in general”

Yoko raised an eyebrow.

“Why so curious?”

“No reason in particular Mrs. Sakaki. Just am.”

“Well, I don’t know exactly how long but it was one of his first cards I’m sure…” she hums trying to remember “Yusho probably got it for him, It was a long time ago so my memory is a little fuzzy”

“Ah, I see”

_Well, I can’t exactly ask Yusho where it came from so that answer will have to suffice for now…_

Then he noticed the look in Sora’s eyes and his own darkened.

“This duel is about to get extremely interesting”

“Oh?” Yoko asked “I thought it was fairly interesting already”

“Hardly, Sora is holding back and Yuya’s more focused on entertaining everyone. But I think Sora’s about to take things up a notch”

“Oh I see” Yoko replied, glancing back at the screen “I’m curious to see what he pulls out then”

\--------------------------

“I play _Suture Rebirth_!” Sora announces “I can revive my Fluffal Wolf from the graveyard, but its effects are negated!”

Yuya frowns as the Wolf returns to the field.

_What’s Sora got planned?_

“Next, I summon _Edge Imp Sabres_!” Sora then pulled a card out of his hand “I play the spell _Edge Imp Echo!_ I destroy my Toy Vendor to add another ‘Edge Imp’ card to my hand!”

The Toy Vendor bursts into pixels as Sora pulls a card from his deck with a smirk.

“Next, I’ll use the effect of the ‘Edge Imp’ monster I just added! _Edge Imp Mixer!_ I can discard this card and fusion summon 1 ‘Frightfur’ monster using the cards on my field!”

_Frightfur??_ Yuya thought to himself, getting a little concerned now.

“I’ll use it to fuse my Edge Imp Sabres and my Fluffal Wolf!” the two monsters lost their form and turned into two swirling lights behind Sora.

Yuya groaned quietly.

_Here we go…_

“Gleaming golden eyes and deadly blades of woe! When the two come together, we’ll crush any foe!” Sora clasped his hands together tightly, a burning look in his eyes “ **Fusion Summon!** This powerful canine has been upgraded with the might of these fiendish blades – reveal! My _Frightfur Howler!_ ”

What dropped onto the field appeared to be a bigger version of Fluffal Wolf, with slightly darker blue fur…

At least at first.

Mixed gasps of shock and horror resonated from the field and the observation room where Zuzu was covering Ally’s eyes. Yuya couldn’t help but wince at what he saw. Blades tore the Wolf open from the inside out, seams burst and stuffing flew everywhere. The Wolf’s usually bright pink eyes turned deep red and suddenly…it didn’t seem so friendly anymore…

Sora’s eyes seemed to lock onto Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon who took a few nervous, but careful, steps back. Yuya patted him on the head gently.

“Hey, its alright Odd-Eyes, that thing is a little frightening yeah, but you’re a big strong dragon. You don’t have anything to worry about”

Sora snickers.

“Actually, you should worry about Frightfur Howler’s special ability!” He points at Odd-Eyes “Maybe this’ll make you stop talking to the projections and start focusing on the duel! When Frightfur Howler is first fusion summoned I can choose one monster on your field with more attack than it and destroy it. I choose your Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon”

The Wolf growled and glowing chains or something like them shot out and wrapped around Odd-Eyes tightly. The dragon screeched in panic before the chains tightened and he burst into pixels. Yuya – who was still on the dragon – fell straight down.

Flip Hippo charged forward and caught the duelist before he hit the ground. The monsters attack dropped to 1200, while Lizardraw dropped to 1600 without Odd-Eyes.

“Thanks…” Yuya muttered, sliding off and staring at where Odd-Eyes was “…Odd-Eyes…”

“Next, because Fluffal Wolf was used to Fusion summon my Frightfur Howler, it gains 1000 attack points” Sora announces, Frightfur Howler’s attack rising to 2000 “and next I activate Frightfur Howler’s other effect, I banish a Fluffal Monster from my graveyard and I can special summon one of _your_ monsters from your graveyard! I banish Fluffal Wings from my graveyard”

Yuya’s eyes widened, a look of deep panic swimming within them.

“You won’t…”

“I will, I’m going to get your Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon” he goes to his duel disk to choose the monster.

Yuya’s form begins to shake. Not his Odd-Eyes! Odd-Eyes was his best friend and meant a lot to him…he didn’t think he could stand the thought of fighting _against_ Odd-Eyes…

\-----------------

“Hm…so that’s what he was planning” The teen muttered.

“Yuya…” Yoko frowned “Yuya must been feeling really bad right now, Odd-Eyes is really precious to him”

“I know…it always has been…”

He returned to watching…after about 30 seconds he frowned.

“Odd…why hasn’t it appeared on Sora’s field yet…?” he asked “It shouldn’t take that long for Sora to make the selection, I’ve similar effect in a duel before, it’s not that difficult”

“I’m not…sure…” Yoko frowned as well.

The teen pushed his glasses up a little, looking curious.

_Intriguing…I wonder why…_

\----------------------

“Yuya! Where’s Odd-Eyes?!” Sora insisted looking confused.

Yuya tilts his head a little.

“What? He should be in the graveyard”

“Well it’s not!”

Yuya frowned before he felt something tugging on his pants, he looked down seeing Lizardraw who climbs up Yuya and sits on his shoulder.

“What’s going on Lizardraw?” Yuya asked confused, the monster taps Yuya’s left arm, gesturing to the duel disk “You want me to check?”

A quick nod.

“Uh…alright…?” he glances down at the touch screen of his duel disk before noticing an arrow blinking, he tilts his head in confusion “But that’s my extra deck…”

He frowns, shooting Lizardraw a look, the monster just gestured for him to click the button. Yuya shrugs – carefully due to the lizard on his shoulder – there wasn’t really anything bad that could come out of this, it was worth it to at least look.

He tapped the button and an image slid out, to show what was in his extra deck, the thing is…there shouldn’t have been _anything_ in it. Yuya had no extra deck monsters…but…

“Odd-Eyes?!” he stared.

_Odd-Eyes…got sent to my Extra deck when he was destroyed...?_

“Yuya, answer my question! Where’s Odd-Eyes?”

Yuya giggled a little, before it dissolved into full blown laughter.

“He’s here! In my Extra deck!”

He could hear loud gasps and many mutterings of ‘what?!’ from the observation room.

\-----------------------

“What…? Its in the extra deck!?”

Yoko chuckled at the teen’s reaction.

“Hm, its certainly surprising”

The teen folded his arms, eyes narrowed at the screen.

_Why would it be in the Extra Deck? Is this something unique to Pendulum Cards? If this is the case…its plausible to assume one could Pendulum summon a Pendulum monster that’s been sent to the extra deck…_

He hums a little. Thinking back to the recording of Yuya and Sylvio’s duel.

_Yuya discarded Pendulum monsters in that duel and they ended up in the graveyard…so if Pendulum monsters are sent to the Extra deck it must be only under certain circumstances, discarding them would send them to the graveyard and I imagine there are other cases where they would be sent there instead of the Extra deck…I wonder what else these cards have in store…_

\--------------

“…ugh…Since your dragon isn’t in the graveyard…I can’t use my ability to steal it...” he huffed “Guess I’ll steal Performapal Hip Hippo instead!”

The Hippo appeared on Sora’s side of the field, looking greatly confused before the chains that had destroyed Odd-Eyes wrapped around it tightly. Hip Hippo squeaked in panic, struggling against them but it really couldn’t do much to get out.

Yuya gritted his teeth.

“Hip Hippo…”

“Frightfur Howler, attack Performapal Lizardraw!”

Lizardraw jumped off Yuya’s shoulder, before turning and pointing a little. Yuya followed the direction his monster was pointing and gasped.

_Action card!_

“Thanks Lizardraw! On it!” Yuya took off, trying to reach the action card.

“Not happening! Frightfur Howler, munch down on that lizard!”

The Wolf did exactly that, practically swallowing Lizardraw long before Yuya could reach the action card. He shot a look to his life points.

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 3600_

Then he glanced at Flip Hippo’s attack points as they dropped to 1000. He didn’t stop moving, he had the feeling Sora was planning to power up Hip Hippo to destroy Flip Hippo…

He was of course, correct.

Sora scanned the field before jumping down onto a giant marshmallow and treating it like a trampoline to reach a card set high up on a giant lollipop. Sora landed back on the marshmallow and bounced to the ground.

“I play the action spell Nanana! You’ll remember what this does Yuya, increasing Hip Hippo’s attack to 1500!”

Yuya flinched, stopping for a second to look back at Hip Hippo.

“Performapal Hip Hippo, attack Flip Hippo!”

The Pink hippo whined a little, but it didn’t really get a choice. The chains forced it to attack Flip Hippo.

“I’ll stop this don’t worry!” Yuya bounded up some giant mints that had ended up set up like stairs.

Apparently however, Sora didn’t intend to let Yuya get it. He jumped onto Frightfur Howler who raced towards the action card, bounding up onto another gingerbread house. Sora leapt off and jumped, catching the action card and sticking the landing.

“Sorry Yuya” Sora said with a laugh “Better luck next time!”

Yuya gritted his teeth, eyes scanning the field for another action card but it was already too late.

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 3100_

“Alright, I’m good to end my turn now Yuya.”

Hip Hippo whined, looking at Yuya guiltily. Yuya just smiled as he made his way back to the stage his Dramatic Theatre field spell conjured up.

“Its Alright Hip Hippo, I’m not upset. I’ll get you out of this”

Sora folded his arms irritably.

“Stop talking to the monsters, jeez, its distracting”

Yuya huffed. He couldn’t understand why Sora treated the monsters as just holograms…he’d have to ask about it later. He tapped the arrow to check his Extra deck…

_Performapal Lizardraw is in here too now! I guess Pendulum Cards just end up here when they’re destroyed…so…can I summon them back?_

“Anyway, my move!” Yuya draws then smiles “Okay good, I activate _Graceful Charity!_ I can draw three cards, so long as I discard two!”

He smiles seeing Stargazer in the three cards he drew. He sighs in relief.

“Sweet, alright then I’ll send these two cards to the graveyard and keep this one” He then grabs Timegazer Magician out of his hand.

_Time to see what else Pendulum Cards are capable of._

“So…I think I know what you’re about to do” Sora mutters.

Yuya nods smiling widely, before snapping his fingers. The field went dark instantly before a spotlight shone down on him. He held the two cards out in front of him.

“Let’s go! I use the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician to set the Pendulum Scale! I’m taking control of this duel – starting now!”

He places the cards at the opposite ends of his hard-light blade, the word ‘PENDULUM’ moving across the blade in rainbow letters. Timegazer and Stargazer rose in the pillars of light, an enlarged version of Yuya’s Pendant swinging slowly between them, sparkling white lines trailing behind it.

“Now I can summon any number of monsters between the Levels of 2 and 7!” He raises his hand to the sky, the Pendulum beginning to swing further between Timegazer and Stargazer “Swing Far Pendulum! Carve the Arc of victory! My Monsters are ready – to Swing into Action!”

A huge portal opens up and two lights shoot down from it.

“Let’s draw a victory, Performapal Lizardraw! Turn up the heat, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

Sora blinked in surprise.

“So…the Pendulum cards in your extra deck can be Pendulum summoned back?”

“Looks like it” Yuya replied, smiling widely “Which is awesome! Because it means my Odd-Eyes gets an encore performance!”

Sora huffs, watching Odd-Eyes roar proudly. Yuya snaps his fingers.

“Thanks to Performapal Dramatic Theatre, Odd-Eyes and Lizardraw’s attack points both rise! By 400 to be specific as there’s one Dragon and one Reptile type on my field!”

Odd-Eyes’ attack points rise to 2900 and Lizardraw’s to 1600. Yuya then gestures to Performapal Hip Hippo.

“My poor little buddy, all tied up in chains. Let’s fix that, battle! Performapal Lizardraw, lets get Hip Hippo out of that mess!”

Hip Hippo squeaks happily as Lizardraw calmly walks over smiling. Then taps it on the head. Sora huffs, then holds up the action card he got.

“ _Candy Switch!_ Any damage I take from the destruction of Performapal Hip Hippo is instead used to increase my life points”

**_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 1000_

Yuya chuckled.

“Ah, that won’t last though” He nods to Odd-Eyes “Odd-Eyes old friend, lets cut down Sora’s life points again! Attack Frightfur Howler!”

Odd-Eyes roars charging towards Howler, Sora just shakes his head and runs over towards a pile of cotton candy made out to appear like a bush. He snatched an action card resting on it and slid it into his duel disk.

“Action card! Evasion! Sorry!”

Yuya snickers, gesturing to Stargazer Magician.

“Stargazer Magician! Master of space! Seal my enemies with your ethereal powers!” Yuya announces “Once per turn Stargazer’s Pendulum ability can negate the effect of a spell card!”

Sora huffs, holding up a card that’s in his hand.

“But he can’t do it twice! I play Edge Imp Sharpener from my hand. Since you declared an attack that involves a ‘Frightfur’ monster I’m controlling I can special summon any ‘Edge Imp’ monster from my graveyard in defence mode and negate the attack!”

Yuya huffed as Odd-Eyes stopped and turned around, walking back over to him. Even Odd-Eyes sounded greatly irritated.

“I special summon my Edge Imp Mixer back to the field!”

“Fine. Over to you Sora”

“Nice, first! Because Edge Imp Mixer was special summoned, I can special summon a ‘Fluffal’ Monster from my deck! So, here’s another Fluffal Kitten!” He draws a card “Okay, next I activate my continuous spell _Frightfur Factory!_ ”

“Frightfur Factory?” Yuya echoed “This doesn’t sound good”

“It isn’t for you Yuya, because once per turn I can banish any polymerization or fusion card in my graveyard and fusion summon a ‘Frightfur’ monster from my extra deck!” Sora looks at his field “Since I have an ‘Edge Imp’ and ‘Fluffal’ monster on my field I have everything I need to fusion summon right away!”

Yuya took a step back, Lizardraw and Odd-Eyes following. He stared Sora down as the younger teen gestured to his monsters.

“So, I’m fusing my Edge Imp Mixer and my Fluffal Kitten!”

The two monsters turned into swirling lights behind Sora, he once again held his hands out looking extremely confident.

“Soft yet vicious kitten, bold and brutal blade! When the two come together, you’ll truly be afraid!” Sora clasped his hands together tightly “ **Fusion Summon!** ”

An extremely cute, slightly larger deep purple cat landed on the field. It even had cute little button eyes…but it wouldn’t last.

“Witness these brutal blades as they twist and tear this feline beyond recognition!”

Even as he spoke, blades began to tear through the cat, stuffing going everywhere as the seams broke apart and pieces of thread hung loose. Deadly looking teeth revealed themselves in the cat’s mouth and suddenly, those button eyes were sending chills down Yuya’s spine.

“Reveal – My deadly _Frightfur Cat-alyst!_ ”

Yuya just stared.

_I feel bad for Fluffal Kitten…it has to go through becoming… **that** …_

Sora pointed to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon.

“Frightfur Cat-alyst’s effect activates! When this ferocious feline arrives on the scene I can choose one special summoned monster on your field and deal you damage equal to that monster’s defence points!” he announces.

Yuya instantly shoots a look to Odd-Eyes. That’s 2000 points of damage coming his way…wonderful…

The cat hissed loudly, before chains shot out from some of the tears in the poor monster’s seams. The chains wrapped around Odd-Eyes, appearing to almost absorb its power. Then they went straight towards Yuya.

“Oh…crap”

He quickly jumped, bounding up the side of a gingerbread house to avoid the chains hitting him. Didn’t stop his life points dropping though.

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 1100_

“For now, I think that’s good enough” Sora decides, “I end my turn”

\------------

“Hm. Yuya was right, he’s a pretty amazing fusion summoner” Yoko commented.

“Yes”

_…Except he’s still holding back. Not quite as much as he was before, but he’s definitely still holding back. He’s hiding something, I know it…I suppose I won’t find out today though…_

He sighs, leaning back slightly. He shouldn’t really stay much longer, he didn’t want to run into Yuya quite yet…but still, he did want to see the end of his duel.

_I suppose a little longer won’t hurt…_

\-------------

Yuya smirks, looking at the card he just drew. He looks up at Sora.

“First. I play the spell card, Impractical Performance!” the spell he’d laid down earlier flips up and glows “Because I took damage due to a card effect I can send the Performapal I just drew to the graveyard and draw two more cards and if either happen to be monsters I can add their attack points to my life points”

Sora sighs.

“Okay then Yuya, lets hope you’re lucky”

“I send _Performapal Swift Serpent_ to the graveyard!” he draws again and smiles “Sweet, _Performapal Secondonkey!_ Since Secondonkey has 1000 attack points when I send him to the graveyard I’ll gain 1000 life points, thanks for the hand Secondonkey!”

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 2100_

“This other card isn’t a monster, so It just stays in my hand” his smile widens “Next, I play the effect of Performapal Swift Serpent in my graveyard! Since its not the only Performapal in my graveyard I can banish it and add up to two cards from my deck to my hand, except I have to banish the cards I add at the end of my turn!”

Sora puts a hand on his hip, looking genuinely curious.

“What exactly are you planning Yuya?”

Yuya adds only one card to his hand, holding it up with the back of the card facing Sora.

“Simple. To finish the duel this turn”

“Curious to see how you plan to do that”

Yuya smiles even wider and gestures to his Pendulum Zones.

“With a little help from Stargazer and Timegazer, no Yuya finishing move is complete without a Pendulum summon! So…swing my Pendulum!”

The Pendulum begins to swing far between Stargazer and Timegazer and the portal opens up a single light shooting down from it.

“Slither on-stage _Performapal Partnaga!_ ”

Sora blinks.  
“Okay…getting interested”

“You should be, because Partnaga is my key to winning!” He clears his throat “ _Ladies and gentlemen!_ When Partnaga is on the field the only monsters who can attack are level 5 or above ones! Of course, this means only my Odd-Eyes and Partnaga himself can attack!”

Sora tilts his head.

“…But that means you’ve replaced one Reptile type with a weaker one since Lizardraw can’t attack. Partnaga can’t even deal much damage, even with Dramatic Theatre’s effect in play, that move was pointless.”

“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong my candy obsessed friend!” Yuya announces “You see, Partnaga isn’t going to attack. The reason its my key to winning is because of its special ability!”

Partnaga slides over to Odd-Eyes, a cheeky look in its eyes.

“When I summon Partnaga I can choose one monster I control and increase its attack by 300 for every Performapal monster that I currently control. I select my Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!” Yuya gestures to his Dragon, Partnaga taps it gently and it lights up yellow “This is why having both Lizardraw and Partnaga is so important! That’s a 600 point boost!”

Sora’s eyes widened.

“Odd-Eyes already has 2900 attack because of Dramatic Theatre’s effect, with Partnaga’s ability too…that’s 3500”

“Exactly! Battle!”

“I activate Frightfur Howler’s effect!” Sora announces, “If I banish a Fluffal monster from my graveyard I can destroy your Odd-Eyes again!”

Yuya shakes his head, running across the gingerbread rooftop he was on and jumping down onto a marshmallow, catching an action card resting on the gingerbread house’s makeshift window.

“I play the action spell _Talentless,_ negating any of your monsters’ special abilities until the end of this turn!”

Sora grits his teeth and looks around, rushing to grab an action card.

“Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks Frightfur Cat-alyst!”

Sora quickly jumps up some mints that have made stairs, eyes locked on an action card.

_If a normal monster with that many attack points destroyed Cat-alyst, I’d already lose from the 1500 points of damage I’d take but… Odd-Eyes Special ability will double that…_

He leapt for the action card.

“I play the action spell Evasion!”

“Not so fast, Stargazer Magician’s Pendulum ability negates your action card!”

Sora gritted his teeth even more, then spotted another behind him and jumped from one rooftop to the other. Yuya turned and rushed towards one he could see, if Yuya’s guess was right these were the last two action cards on the field…so it came down to who got the better one…

Sora quickly grabbed the action card and jumped down, landing in a cotton candy bush and quickly climbing out.

“Action spell! Candy Switch! The Damage I take becomes life points instea-”

“Nope!” Yuya announces, sliding his own action card in “I play the action spell Crush Action! This spell negates your action card!”

Sora’s eyes widened, even if there were other action cards, he had no time to get them. Odd-Eyes jumped into the air, fire forming in its mouth.

“Come on Odd-Eyes give Sora a blazing send-off! **Spiral Flame Strike!** ”

The fire hit Frightfur Cat-alyst, the monster hissed in response but the fire quickly overpowered it.

“And thanks to Odd-Eyes Special ability you’re going to take 3000 points of damage! Go **Reaction Force!** ”

Frightfur Cat-alyst burst into pixels and Sora went flying backwards into the cotton candy bush. Odd-Eyes landed and roared proudly.

**_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 0_

**_Winner: Yuya Sakaki_ **

The field spell slowly disappeared, leaving Sora laying on the floor of the You Show duel area. Yuya stared at him, watching as the teen sat up and stared at the floor…

_Is he upset…? Maybe I was too hard on him?_

He smiles as an idea comes to mind and walks over, kneeling down to the younger boy’s level.

“You know what Sora? That was an amazing duel, I was really on the ropes for a minute there. I seriously thought I was gonna lose!” Yuya laughed “You’re an incredible duelist, I don’t think you need any instruction from me”

Sora looked up, curious.

“Do you mean it?”

“Of course” Yuya offers Sora a hand standing up “I’d love to duel you again sometime, no bets or deals, just for fun”

Sora takes the helping hand and stands up, dusting himself off.

“Sounds good!”

“And even though I’m not your teacher…I’d still love to be your friend!” Yuya says happily.

Sora’s eyes light up, a huge grin crosses his face. There was more joy in his eyes in that moment than in any of the past few days with him…even all of them put together. Sora nods his head quickly.

“Yes! I’d love that Yuya!”

\-------------

“Yuya won, I’m impressed.” The teen stands up and goes to leave when Yoko stops him.

“Where are you going, don’t you want to see Yuya?” 

“Again, we really didn’t get along as children. I doubt he wants to see me” The teen responds quickly “Perhaps another time Mrs. Sakaki”

Neither noticed that the students were coming back from the duel and observation areas now.

“So Sora! Are you planning to enrol here then?” Zuzu asks.

“Definitely!” He smiles “I want to be able to outmatch Yuya when it comes to finding action cards!”

Yuya snickers, holding his pendulum up and letting it swing back and forth.

“Good luck Sora, I am the master of finding action cards!”

Sora huffed, before his expression shifted.

“Yuya, I keep forgetting to try and ask again or something interrupts when I do, but can I ask you a question?”

Yuya nods and the others walk ahead, he raises an eyebrow at the confused expression on Sora’s face.

“Yuya, why do you talk to the monsters?”

“What? Everyone in You Show does it, it’s hardly abnormal”

“Yeah, yeah I get that. But they’re just making it _look_ like they’re talking to them, to entertain. You _actually_ have _conversations_ with your _cards,_ you literally stopped two holograms from fighting saying they _‘didn’t get along’_ that’s not how holograms work” Sora insisted “Why do you act like the cards are alive?”

Yuya stared at Sora, genuine confusion etched on his face. He struggled to find an appropriate way to voice the numerous thoughts going through his head…but eventually he just said:

“What?”

“Why do you treat the monsters like they’re living creatures?”

Yuya blinks, narrowing his eyes in concern.

_What’s he talking about?_

“They _are_ alive” Yuya replies.

Sora raises an eyebrow.

“No. They’re holograms, they can’t talk to you”

Yuya chuckled, putting a hand on his hip.

“Seriously Sora, don’t mess with me like that” he says quickly “Of course they talk, the others know that…”

_Actually now that I think about it, Sora’s right…the others all act like they’re interacting with their monsters but…I don’t think they really are…_ More concern filled Yuya’s eyes _M-Mum will be able to answer this, its probably Sora playing some elaborate prank or something cause he lost!_

“Anyway!” Yuya says before Sora can say anything “I’ve got homework to do so…I need to head home”

Yuya rushes into the main area of the building, picking up his back before he finds himself face to face with a very familiar looking teen.

“Yuya?” Zuzu asked “Who is this? You look like you know him”

Yuya stared, before his eyes narrowed.

“So…you _do_ know him?” Sora suggests.

“You could say that”

“Hold on…this guy is part of the Leo Corporation, right?” Zuzu mutters “That’s right isn’t it?”

Yoko doesn’t say a word, seeing the look on her son’s face. Perhaps it would’ve been better if Yuya _hadn’t_ run into him again…

“Yeah…” Yuya mutters.

The teen sighs, pulling his hood off and adjusting his glasses.

“Its been a long time hasn’t it Yuya?” he says “After your duel with the Sledgehammer, I considered coming to see you again, I must admit, you’ve grown a lot. Of course, there are other ways in which you haven’t changed a bit”

“Yeah. And you’re still the same as ever” Yuya replies coldly “What are you doing here?”

“Again, visiting. I was just leaving though”

Sora steps forward, eyeing the teen and frowning, he looked familiar somehow…

“Yuya seriously, who is this guy?”

Yuya glanced down at Sora, then back at the grey-haired teen meeting his gaze.

“This guy here is the current head of the Leo Corporation.” He explains, narrowing his eyes even more “ _Declan. Akaba._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha! Episode done! *sighs* I’m fairly sure that the original Yuya vs Sora duel was better but *shrugs* I had fun writing it! (seeing as I finished at 3:30am I choose to blame any possible late episode errors that I forget to correct on that XD) 
> 
> Now the plot deviates a fair bit more, considering we’re nearing the episode my absolute favourite character was introduced in I’m getting excited! ^^  
> Anyway, custom cards ahead!  
> \--------  
> Yuya:  
> Performapal Swift Serpent [Level 4 – Earth – ATK: 800/DEF: 1000 – Reptile/Effect: If you have at least two other “Performapal” monsters in your graveyard along with this card you may banish “Performapal Swift Serpent” and add up to 2 cards from your deck to your hand. Except you must banish both in your end phase]
> 
> (Wait I only used one new custom card for Yuya in this duel?! 0-0 I’m surprised at myself honestly XD)  
> \--  
> Sora:  
> Fluffal Wolf [Level 4 – Earth – ATK: 200/DEF: 500 – Fairy/Effect: When this card is special summoned you can add 1 “Fluffal” or “Edge Imp” spell or trap card to your hand. If this card is used for a Fusion summon the fusion monster gains this effect: *If it is Fusion summoned it gains 1000 attack points.]
> 
> Fluffal Siren [Level 7 – Water – ATK: 500/DEF: 1000 – Fairy/Fusion/Effect: 2 “Fluffal” Monsters. When this card is Fusion Summoned you can add 1 “Edge Imp” or “Fluffal” monster to your hand.]
> 
> Fluffal Kitten [Level 2 – Earth – ATK: 200/DEF: 0 – Fairy/Effect: During the battle phase all “Fluffal” monsters on your field gain 500 ATK points.]
> 
> Edge Imp Echo [Spell - Destroy one face up card on your field and add 1 “Edge Imp” card from your deck to your hand]
> 
> Edge Imp Mixer [Level 2 – Dark – ATK: 100/DEF: 200 – Fiend/Effect: You can discard this card and fusion summon 1 “Frightfur” Monster using cards on your field as Fusion Materials. When this card is summoned you can special summon 1 “Fluffal” monster from your deck.]
> 
> Frightfur Howler [Level 6 – Dark – ATK: 1000/DEF: 1300 – Fiend/Fusion/Effect: “Edge Imp Sabres” + “Fluffal Wolf” When this card is fusion summoned: Target any 1 monster on your opponent’s field with more attack points than “Frightfur Howler” and destroy it. Once per turn you can banish 1 “Fluffal” Monster in your graveyard and special summon 1 monster in your opponent’s graveyard to your side of the field.]
> 
> Edge Imp Sharpener [Spell – Quick Play – When an attack is declared involving a “Frightfur” monster you control you can special summon 1 “Edge Imp” monster from your graveyard in defence mode and negate the attack]
> 
> Frightfur Cat-alyst [Level 7 – Dark – ATK: 2000/DEF: 1000 – Fiend/Fusion/Effect: 1 “Edge Imp” monster + “Fluffal Kitten” As long as this monster is on the field no “Frightfur” monsters you control can be targeted by special abilities. When this card is summoned select one special summoned monster on your opponent’s field and deal your opponent damage equal to that card’s defence points.]
> 
> (Yes. I did have to make that last Frightfur monster have a pun name XD)  
> \--  
> Action Cards:  
> Enticing Sweets [Spell – Switches one monster on the field into attack position]
> 
> Candy Switch [Spell – Any damage you take from the first attack of the battle phase is added onto your life points instead.]
> 
> Talentless [Spell – Your opponent cannot activate any special abilities until the end of the battle phase]  
> \--  
> Done! ^^ See you all next time!


	6. Scale 6 - Lessons from the past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Declan Akaba. Head of the Leo Institute and old...'acquaintance' of Yuya Sakaki. Whatever bad blood is between these two, there's no better way of getting it out of their systems then a duel...right?

“Yuya seriously, who is this guy?”

Yuya glanced down at Sora, then back at the grey-haired teen meeting his gaze.

“This guy here is the current head of the Leo Corporation.” He explains, narrowing his eyes even more “ _Declan. Akaba._ ”

Yuya honestly wasn’t sure _what_ he expected upon telling everyone that…but the few stunned gasps and then subsequent silence made sense.

Declan sighs, then nods.

“Yes, I’m Declan Akaba.”

Zuzu stared before clearing her throat and finally finding her voice again. She knew Declan’s name, obviously, she heard it well… _everywhere_. But she’d never seen his face, rumours said he was a bit anti-social, preferring to hide in his office and watch events from there.

Thus, his casual outfit, with the obnoxiously long red scarf and hoodie shocked her. Zuzu would have assumed this was just so he wasn’t _bombarded_ the second he left his home but she had a feeling that casual was just how Declan was…

“Yuya, how do you know the _head_ of LID!?” she asked, staring at her best friend with wide eyes.

Yuya groaned.

“Its…complicated”

“Not really. Our fathers were old friends” Declan corrected.

Sora blinked, glancing at Yuya then at Declan. He munched on his lollipop curiously.

_So…Leo Akaba and Yusho Sakaki were friends?_ He hummed thoughtfully _interesting._

“Why bother visiting here Declan? Its been three years, I hardly think you came here because you _suddenly_ feel the urge to ‘catch up’” Yuya says, making air quotations “Lemme guess, you’re responsible for Sylvio chasing after my Pendulum Cards right?”

Declan goes silent and pushes his glasses up slightly, a glare over them covering his eyes.

“You’re far more perceptive than you used to be Yuya, that’s good.”

“I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Well, I won’t deny that I _did_ ask him to steal them from you…however the methods in which he conducted his… _task_ …were… _regrettable_ ”

“Regrettable!?” Yuya huffed, stepping closer. Despite being shorter than Declan he came across as quite the intimidating figure when he dropped the smile “Zuzu, Frederick, Ally and Tate were in danger!”

“I’m aware.” Declan replies calmly.

“You _do_ realise its against the regulations of action dueling for people in the Junior division to be on a Youth division action field right!?” Yuya stated, “Tate, Ally and Frederick are all in the junior division. Sylvio’s little stunt put them all in a lot of danger!”

Declan sighed loudly.

“I’m well aware of action duel regulations Yuya, please don’t quote the book at me”

“I’ll do more than quote the book, I’ll throw it at you if any of your Leo students pull something like that again!”

Sora blinked in surprise, looking at Zuzu and whispering.

“U-Uh…does he usually get this angry?”

“Not usually no, but its usually better to let him vent it out when he _does_ ” Zuzu explained “Don’t worry, he’ll probably just yell for a bit. Worst comes to worst, he’ll duel someone. Yuya’s harmless”

“Oh, okay.”

Declan tilted his head curiously.

“Throw it at me?” he snickered “Well that would be a sight, I didn’t know you used violence Yuya”

Yuya gritted his teeth.

“I don’t…I’m a duelist, we settle things with our decks. If you don’t have anything to do _Mr. Hotshot President_ …we could settle this…”

“Is that a challenge Yuya Sakaki?” Declan asked.

“ _Maybe it is_ ”

“You do recall you lost to me the last time we duelled right?” Declan replied “In fact, I’m fairly sure it was an OTK if my memory serves me correctly”

Yuya straightened up slightly, glaring Declan down.

“What, are you saying I can’t beat you?”

“Not at my best no, but…” Declan smiles “If you wish to duel me Yuya, I’m willing to accept. I’ll even go easy on you”

“Don’t you even dare!” Yuya announces “If we duel, we duel for real, don’t you _dare_ go easy on me”

“Fine…” Declan looked over to Skip who was watching in confusion “Mr. Boyle correct? Would you mind?”

“Uh, no. I guess if you both want to duel, I can’t stop you…I’ll go get the ARC system back on then” He walks off.

Yuya puts his bag back down and storms back off to the duel arena. Declan sighing and following him, sliding his own white duel disk on.

Yoko shook her head.

“These two, I do hope Yuya knows what he’s getting himself into”

“No kidding” Zuzu muttered “Declan got promoted to the Pro circuit at _15_ if that’s not good I don’t know what is”

Sora sucked on his lollipop, staring at Declan.

“I heard the head of LID knows all four summoning methods. Ritual, Xyz, Fusion and Synchro…is that true?”

Zuzu shrugs.

“Could be, it’s one of those rumours that you just don’t know till you see it”

Sora walks ahead to go to the observation area.

“I guess we’d better watch and find out then”

\------------

“Ready Yuya?”

Yuya huffed, swinging his arm out as his yellow hard-light blade formed.

“Always, lets get on with it”

Declan nodded in acknowledgement, his red blade appearing.

“As this is _your_ duel school, I’ll allow you to choose the action field”

Yuya sighed, looking thoughtful before glancing at the control area of the ARC system.

“Hey Principle Boyle!” he called up “You know the one!”

He heard a loud laugh.

_“On it Yuya! I activate the action field_ Acrobatic Circus!”

The field formed around them before a bunch of glowing cards appeared in the air above before bursting out and spreading around the field.

_“Action Cards Dispersed”_ a robotic voice intoned.

“Since you let _me_ choose the action field, you can take the first move Declan”

“Hm, as you wish” he replies, he doesn’t take the first move yet though “Why this field if I may ask?”

“Its my favourite” Yuya replies simply.

“And _Yusho’s_ favourite, right?”

“Something like that…” Yuya shook his head “Just get on with it already!”

“Fine.”

“ **Let’s duel!** ”

**_Declan Akaba  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

\-----------------------

“Acrobatic Circus!” Zuzu cheered “Yuya’s going to wipe the floor with Declan Akaba!”

Sora tilts his head, sucking on his lollipop.

“Why?”

“Oh, you haven’t been around long enough to know! That’s right I forgot!” Zuzu chuckled.

Tate looked curious.

“I’ve seen Yuya duel on this field a couple times…but I didn’t know it was his favourite”

“It is” Yoko says “In fact, Its not only Yuya and Yusho’s favourite Action field but in fact, it’s the one Yuya first practiced Action Duelling on and to this day, whenever he has a practice duel he tries to convince Skip to use this field”

Sora raised an eyebrow.

_I thought Yuya said Junior Division duelists couldn’t duel on Youth Division Action fields…how could he have been raised on a field he wasn’t allowed on?_

Ally noticed Sora’s expression and guessed what was confusing him.

“There _are_ some action fields that can be changed between the different divisions you know Sora. Acrobatic Circus is one of them, since it can be made to be more bouncy and safer than some others. Sweets Island is another” She explained.

“Oh…thanks Ally”

\------------------

“Alright, first move” Declan holds out a card “I’ll use the special ability of my _D/D Swirl Slime_ from my hand! I can fusion summon one ‘D/D/D’ monster from my extra deck, using monsters in my hand as its materials as long as my Swirl Slime is one of them!”

Yuya grits his teeth.

_Man, right off the bat he’s Fusion summoning…_

“I’ll use my D/D Swirl Slime and _D/D Ghast_ as Fusion Materials”

The two cards swirled behind Declan, giving off a faint light.

“Witness the birth of a winged king who predicts a victory in my future!” Declan doesn’t clasp his hands together the way Sora had done, instead his glare merely hardens as he announces “ **I Fusion Summon!** _D/D/D Oracle King d’Arc!”_

Yuya shivered a little, staring the winged king down. Though…

“I expected surprise, but you seem confused Sakaki” Declan comments, noting the teen’s expression.

Yuya nodded a little, before looking to the observation room.

“Something about your Fusion seems different to Sora’s…I don’t know why, it’s just something I noticed…how different it feels” He replies.

Declan pushes his glasses up.

“I see”

_Intriguing. Yuya can tell the difference? I didn’t think that anything other than my instruments could pick up on the difference in the summoning energy…_ he shook his head a little and took a deep breath.

Oh well, a thought to put aside for later he supposed.

“Next I activate my spell card _Dark Contract with the Glyph!_ By using its secondary effect, I can destroy it and add a ‘D/D’ monster to my hand” Declan announces “I add my _D/D Pandora_ ”

Yuya frowns, where was Declan going with all this?

“I summon my _D/D Nighthowl!_ Since Nighthowl’s effect allows me to select a ‘D/D’ monster in my graveyard to special summon I can special summon my D/D Ghast! And when my Ghast is special summoned I can add a ‘D/D’ or ‘Dark Contract’ card from my graveyard to my hand.”

Declan retrieves the spell he’d activated moments before and returns it to his hand.

“Now with my spell back where it belongs, I’ll tune my Level 3 D/D Nighthowl with my Level 5 D/D Ghast!”

Nighthowl turned into three glowing green rings, while Ghast turned into five white glowing orbs. They floated to the air above Declan, the rings surrounding the orbs. The Duel Disk showed up a quick calculation:

**_3 + 5 = 8_ **

“Witness the birth of a cursed king whose blade will obliterate any forces you send our way!” Declan raises his hand to the sky, the light exploding outwards “ **I Synchro Summon!** ”

The light is sliced in half as the new monster appears, landing on the ground next to Oracle King d’Arc and Declan.

“My _D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried!”_

\-------------

Sora whistled.

“Well…that’s two of four” He comments, before putting the lollipop back in his mouth, muffling his words “He’s not bad”

“Not bad?!” Tate gasped “Sora, you act as if he’s _not_ a pro!”

Sora looks at the slightly smaller boy and smiles a little, taking his lollipop back out and pointing at the fusion monster with it.

“He may be good, but that’s hardly an expert fusion summoner” he winks “Trust me, _I know._ ”

“Well, Sora is You Show’s Fusion master now!” Ally says, “I say we believe him!”

“Ya! Yuya is gonna wipe the floor with that weird Akaba guy!” Frederick added.

Zuzu and Yoko just glanced at each other and giggled, they’d keep their encouragement internal for the time being. No need to distract Yuya.

\--------------------

“Synchro huh?” Yuya mutters “Two left”

Declan nods.

“Next, I’ll reactivate my Dark Contract with the Glyph alongside another Dark Contract card, my _Dark Contract with the Gate_!” he announces “Thanks to Dark Contract with the gate I can add a ‘D/D’ monster to my hand once per turn. I’ll choose to add a second D/D Nighthowl”

Yuya’s eyes narrowed.

_Here we go…_

“Dark Contract with the Glyph now activates!” Declan holds his hand out to the spell, the spell lights up “Once per turn, I can Ritual summon one Fiend type Ritual Monster from my deck, using monsters in my hand or on my field as materials for the summon!”

Behind Declan a magical rune appears, deep red and slowly growing till Declan was overshadow by its glow. He held two cards out and two fires appeared in front of him.

“I cast D/D Pandora and D/D Nighthowl into the fire as sacrifices!” the two fires swirl together and dive into the glyph behind him, the glyph flashes with colour.

Soon the glyph folds in on itself, creating an orb of red light that slowly melds into a deep purple fire.

“Witness the birth of a shadow king whose gleaming eyes paralyse his enemies with fear!”

The first visible thing is said ‘Gleaming eyes’, they’re a bright, piercing yellow. The next thing is how the fire slowly burns away, turning into ash as it floats upwards revealing the warrior dressed in deep blue and purple armour.

The warrior’s cape becomes visible, deep blue on the outside, a blood red on the inside. Finally, the warrior unsheathes his blade, a rapier that glows bright red with the indication of evil intent.

“ **I Ritual Summon!** ” Declan announces, “My _D/D/D Dusk King Lazarus!_ ”

Yuya gulped.

_Fusion. Synchro. Ritual. Only Xyz is left._

Declan glances at his duel disk, then the field and gestures to Yuya.

“I can’t do anything else this turn Yuya, so its your move. Please make it a good one”

Yuya inhaled slowly and nodded, drawing his first card. He frowned staring at the card in confusion.

_What? I never had this card in my deck…the heck is going on?_

“I live to entertain” he replies glancing at his hand “I summon my _Performapal Skullcrobat Joker!_ ”

The monster landed on the field, glanced at Yuya then at Declan and snickered. As if it just _knew_ what was going on.

“You chose not to Pendulum Summon that monster?” Declan pondered “Do you just not have the Scales required?”

Yuya blinked in surprise.

_He knows how the Scales work?! What am I thinking? Of course, he does, he’s probably the one who explained it to Sylvio in our duel._

“I chose not to Pendulum Summon him because when he’s normal summoned he gets to call for a co-star in his performance, one of his ‘Magician’, ‘Performapal’ or ‘Odd-Eyes’ friends!” Yuya announces “So, I can add my Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to my hand!”

Declan pushed his glasses up.

_I see, he still relies heavily on that dragon…_

Yuya holds out two monsters.

“Now, its time I try switching things up with my Pendulum Scales! I set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 6 _Performapal Odd-Eyes Minitaurus_ and my Scale 8 _Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn_!” Yuya slides his cards onto the opposite ends of his duel disk blade “I’m taking control of this duel – Starting now!”

The word ‘PENDULUM’ moved across the blade in rainbow letters. Odd-Eyes Minitaurus and Odd-Eyes Unicorn rose in the pillars of light, an enlarged version of Yuya’s Pendant swinging slowly between them, sparkling white lines trailing behind it.

“Now I can summon my level 7 monsters without needing to tribute and as many at a time as I want!” Yuya holds his hand up to the sky “Swing far Pendulum! Carve the Arc of victory!”

The Pendulum began to swing between the two monsters even more, before a portal opened up in the middle of the two zones.

“My monster is ready – To Swing into Action!” A red light shoots out of the portal and a loud roar signifies the arrival of Yuya’s favourite monster “Turn up the heat, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

“Hm, well, I can’t say I’m surprised you brought your dragon out” Declan mutters “To this day, you still rely on it for every duel.”

Yuya frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“You’re predictable, you always have been Yuya” he sighed “And predictable is hardly entertaining Sakaki”

Yuya gritted his teeth, clenching his fist with irritation. Declan was coming into Yuya’s father’s duel school and was talking bad about Yuya! That wasn’t fair in the slightest!

Odd-Eyes let out a low growl, as if sensing his duelist’s anger.

“Don’t speak about me like that in _my_ father’s duel school. You’ll show some respect when you’re here!”

Declan hummed thoughtfully.

“Oh, I mean no disrespect, in fact quite the opposite Yuya. I hold your father in the absolute highest regard” he says calmly “So please, don’t get this all twisted Sakaki”

Yuya glared the older teen down, before nodding to Odd-Eyes. The dragon roared and charged forward as Yuya ran off in a different direct. He bounded up a couple trampolines.

“Battle phase!” He announced before grabbing an action card “Action spell – Special Action! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon is now allowed to attack each special summoned monster on your field once! So go! Attack D/D/D Dusk King Lazarus!”

Declan tilted his head curiously.

“Except he’s only strong enough to destroy that one.”

Yuya’s eyes glinted with a hint of cheekiness.

“We’ll see, Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn’s Pendulum Ability activates!” Yuya holds his hand out “When an ‘Odd-Eyes’ monster I control declares an attack I can pick a ‘Performapal’ monster I control and give Odd-Eyes attack equal to that ‘Performapal’ monster’s attack until the end of the battle phase!”

Declan blinked in surprise.

“I select my Skullcrobat Joker! Increasing my Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon’s attack points by 1800!”

The grey-haired teen looked down, pushing his glasses up again before a smirk crosses his lips.

“Impressive, but not enough. D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried’s effect now activates, once during either of our turns I can target a face up spell or trap card on the field and negate its effects until the end of the next standby phase”

Yuya instantly looked at Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn. Declan nods.

“Yes, since your Pendulum monster is a spell at the moment, I’ll be negating that effect!”

He groaned making his way back to the ground level, letting out a low, irritated growl. Odd-Eyes let out his own, stronger growl as if agreeing with Yuya’s feelings. It charged forward, the fire in its mouth charging towards D/D/D Dusk King Lazarus.

Declan sighed, holding up an Action card. When he grabbed it? Who knows.

“Action Card: Talentless” He says calmly “Negating the special ability of your Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon so it can’t deal me double damage this turn”

Yuya’s eyes widened.

**_Declan Akaba  
_ ** _LP: 3500_

“…argh…fine” he huffed and placed one card face down “Turn over.”

Then he paused, checking Declan’s field and a small smirk crossed his face.

_Those two Dark Contract cards, they’re going to deal Declan 2000 points of damage…he played them to show off his summoning but now its gonna deal him damage._

\-----------

“Yoko, I don’t get it” Zuzu said with a hint of confusion “How come Yuya and Declan know each other and what the heck happened to make Yuya hate Declan so much?”

Yoko sighed, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes.

“Well the first question has a simple answer, like Declan said: Yusho and Leo were old friends, Yusho had known Leo almost as long as he knew Skip. As you know, Leo Akaba invented solid vision dueling, he invented the ARC System and action duels.”

Sora hummed a little, tilting his head up towards Yoko. She smiled in response.

“And Yusho took the Action Duels a step further, mixing his Entertainment background with dueling. In fact, the Performapal Archetype was a type of card Leo specifically created for Yusho as a gift”

“Wow…” Zuzu’s eyes had clear awe etched into them.

“Ya! To have an Archetype made by your friend that’s so amazing!” Frederick cheered.

“Declan and Yuya were still quite little and since Leo was always busy with the Leo Corporation, they didn’t meet for a long time” Yoko explained “Yuya was about seven years old when they met.”

“Okay, so…then why all the animosity towards Declan?” Tate asked.

“I’m not sure honestly, even as his mother there are things, I simply don’t know about Yuya” She sighs “I don’t know if its entirely _because_ of Declan that he hates Declan…if that makes sense?”

“Who else would make Yuya hate Declan though?” Ally asked.

“I don’t know Ally. I can only say that Yuya never felt comfortable around the Akaba family…and neither Yusho nor I ever understood why”

\-------------

Declan smiles.

“I suspect you think I’m about to take Damage correct?” He asked before looking over at his Fusion King “Unfortunately Yuya, you’re incorrect. I wouldn’t so willingly allow myself to be put at a disadvantage. Thus the effect of my D/D/D Oracle King d’Arc activates, since two effects activate during this standby phase that deal me damage, those 2000 points will instead be added to my life points”

Yuya’s eyes widened and he huffed irritably.

**_Declan Akaba  
_ ** _LP: 5500_

“You just _don’t. Stay. Down_.” Yuya muttered.

“Of course not Yuya” Declan chuckled a little “Its your own fault honestly, you’re treating me as if I’m still in the same level as you but we both know that’s not true. If you challenge a Pro, I expect you to act like you’re dueling a Pro”

Yuya gritted his teeth, looking away. He _was_ he was dueling as best he could…

“You were always like this” he muttered “always acting so high and mighty, you and your father…”

“Right and you despise me for this?”

“You’re damn right I despise you” Yuya replied “Why do you always act so damn smug?! Showing off all the time! _Ooh look at me, I’m Declan Akaba and I’ve mastered all the summoning methods, I’m so awesome!_ ”

Declan raised an eyebrow, brushing part of his fringe back into place.

“Me? Showing off? Yuya, I think you have it mixed up. You’re the one jumping around and acting like the whole world should only be watching you.” He hummed “Now, please don’t get it wrong, I’m aware that an entertainment duelist will often act far more… _extravagantly_ than most other duelists, it _is_ part of the job description after all…however…”

He adjusted his glasses.

“Do you act so ridiculous because you’re putting on a show, or because you want all eyes on you? Because you desire the attention…?”

Yuya stared silently, unable to respond to that. He wasn’t actually sure what the answer to that was at the moment…

“Whatever the case, you’re not exactly entertaining me. This pathetic excuse for a performance is honestly making me wish for the days where you’d find any excuse to duel me away from my father” Declan rolled his eyes “And you wouldn’t believe how irritating that was”

“Shut up and duel Akaba, it’s your move remember?”

“I recall” Declan replied “I suppose you aren’t willing to use words today. Fine, then I will speak through my cards. That should suffice to get my point across” he draws a card and hums in thought “I’ll use Dark Contract with the Gate’s effect to add _D/D Siren_ to my hand”

Yuya huffed, narrowing his eyes at the older teen as he made his move.

“Since I control a D/D/D monster, I can special summon my Level 3 D/D Siren. When D/D Siren is summoned this way, I can special summon another D/D Monster from the graveyard. My level 3 D/D Nighthowl”

\-----------------

Sora gritted his teeth, looking mildly irritated.

“What’s wrong Sora?” Ally asked.

The blue haired boy chuckled, forcing a smile.

“Oh nothing, just worried about Yuya” he replied “After all…”

His eyes drifted back to Declan, narrowing into a very out of character glare.

“Declan is about to _Xyz Summon_ ”

\------------------

“I overlay my D/D Nighthowl and my D/D Siren, in order to build the overlay network!”

A dark vortex opened up beneath Declan, swirling as the two purple lights shot into it. A deep red aura swirling within the vortex.

“Witness the birth of a mighty king who rips the very sky in half with his blade!” Declan proclaims as the light bursts up, almost blocking Yuya’s view of his opponent “ **I Xyz Summon!** _D/D/D Storm King Niro_!”

A blade tears through the red beam of light, which explodes leaving little sparks of electricity trailing over the monster. The monster rests the blade on its armoured shoulder, the armour a deep crimson. Its fierce green eyes open, glaring Yuya down. Two blue lights swirl around it, lighting up its armour in such a way that Yuya can’t help but be concerned.

“When this warrior is summoned, I can discard any one D/D card in my hand and special summon any one D/D/D monster from my graveyard” he sends he’s newly drawn card to the graveyard “I revive my D/D/D Dusk King Lazarus!”

Yuya’s eyes dart around the field, plotting a path to the location of his next action card. He knows exactly which way to go and before Declan can even declare his battle phase Yuya is off.

“Battle! D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried! Attack Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

Yuya bounded up the trampolines that lead to the trapeze platform. He stopped at the top, winked at Declan and took a few steps back, eyes narrowed on the trapeze.

“Yuya…?” Declan asked with a hint of curiosity.

“Watch and be amazed Akaba!” He suddenly ran forward and leapt off the platform, catching the trapeze and swinging on it.

He swung back and forth, each movement making his swing wider till he was able to flip off the swing and catch the second one ahead. He let go of that one at the highest point of its swing, somersaulting in the air before landing perfectly on the opposite platform.

Declan hummed, certainly a little impressed. Yuya had grown to be quite the acrobat.

“Impressive, but you didn’t get any action cards from that movement, it was a pointless bit of showing off.”

Yuya glances down at the older teen, a cheeky smirk on his face.

“Oh? Didn’t I?” He held his empty hand up then flicked his wrist a little, an action card appearing in his hold. “Poof.”

“Wait!” Sora asked from the observation room “How’d you do that!?”

Yuya chuckles.

“A Magician never reveals his secrets Sora” Yuya did however point up at the platform that was a little bit above the trapeze and winked again.

Declan blinks then adjusts his glasses.

“I see…there was an action card up there…” he nodded a little “Impressive, you somehow grabbed the action card mid swing…and still made it to the other platform without aid...”

There were several reasons why such a feat was a shock, obviously grabbing the action card mid swing was nigh impossible…but the fact Yuya even knew there was an action card up there was impressive in itself.

He didn’t quite get there in time to stop Odd-Eyes’ Destruction unfortunately.

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 3700_

“D/D/D Storm King Niro, attack Performapal Skullcrobat Joker!”

Yuya slides the card he just acquired into his duel disk.

“Miracle! Saving my Skullcrobat Joker from destruction and halving the damage I take!”

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 3450_

“D/D/D Oracle King d’Arc! Attack Performapal Skullcrobat Joker!”

Yuya jumps down, landing on a trampoline and using that to bounce down to another. He hit the ground safely, just as his Performapal was destroyed.

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 2950_

He was hardly concerned.

“Now, D/D/D Dusk King Lazarus! Attack Yuya directly!”

Yuya smirks.

“Reveal face down! _Performapal Pinch Helper!_ ” he announces “Because you’re attacking me directly, I can activate this trap! Once per turn, I can negate the attack and special summon a ‘Performapal’ monster from my deck with its effects negated!”

“D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried’s effect now activates” Declan replies, completely unphased “Negating the effects of your Trap card”

Yuya huffed but yelped in surprise as Declan’s Dusk King came charging towards him, sword pointed directly at the younger teen.

He quickly jumped onto the platform behind him, jumping up again to dodge the sword before landing on the trampoline close by and back on the ground.

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 750_

Yuya inhaled slowly, trying to catch his breath as he brushed his hair away and fixed up his goggles.

“Man Akaba, between you and Sora I’m going to be exhausted when I get home” he joked.

Declan doesn’t respond, instead switching into his second main phase.

“I activate the effect of my _D/D Contract Revision_ trap card from my graveyard. I banish this trap and destroy a ‘Dark Contract’ on my field to switch it with one from my deck” he gestures to Dark Contract with the Glyph “I destroy my Dark Contract with the Glyph and replace it with my _Dark Contract with the Leviathan”_

Yuya raised an eyebrow.

“And this card…does…what exactly?”

“Its quite an intriguing Card Yuya, you see. Either player can special summon any monster from either player’s extra deck without needing to worry about summoning requirements” Declan explained “Should you choose to use this effect, you’ll take 1000 points of damage at the beginning of the next standby phase and as long as this card is in play, all D/D and D/D/D monsters on either player’s field gain 300 attack points. Should Dark Contract with the Leviathan leave the field all monsters summoned through its effect will return to the extra deck of the player they belong to”

Yuya frowned, he didn’t like this card…

_Why would he use this? He knows I only know Pendulum summoning what could he possibly be planning to- oh no…_

Declan smirks, pushing his glasses up.

_Now, time to test Yuya’s resolve. Has he changed at all from back then?_

“I’m using Dark Contract with the Leviathan’s effect to special summon a monster from _your_ extra deck, your Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to be specific. Its attack becomes 0 because of my Dark Contract’s effect, however”

Yuya’s eyes widened as he saw his dragon on Declan’s side of the field. He started to tremble terribly.

“Well Yuya, that’s my turn for now. Its your move”

“Y-You took Odd-Eyes…you _stole_ Odd-Eyes!”

“It’s a duel Yuya, I would’ve hoped you would’ve grown up a little but it seems you haven’t. You’re still exactly the same as you were back then”

Yuya flinched in response to that, vividly remembering the last time Declan had pulled something like this…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“That’s not fair!” Little Yuya had shouted, tears welling up in his eyes “Papa! Papa!”

Yusho looked over, shot his friend Leo a small smile and stood up. Walking over to his seven-year-old son and kneeling down. Yuya and Declan were dueling, as Yuya was too young to be on any form of Action field yet their duel was the equivalent of cards on a table.

“Whatever is the matter Yuya?”

Yuya sobbed, hugging his father.

“Papa! Declan stole my Odd-Eyes!”

Yusho raised an eyebrow, his eyes drifted over to the older boy. Looking for a clearer view on the situation. The ten-year-old adjusted his glasses and sighed.

“I just used a card effect to take control of it, Mr. Sakaki, its not like I actually stole it”

Yusho nodded with a small smile, before ruffling his son’s hair a little.

“Yuya, its just a game. Don’t get so upset, that’s hardly entertaining”

“B-But O-Odd-Eyes is my friend!” Yuya huffed, rubbing his eyes “He’s _my_ friend, Declan’s not allowed to have him!”

Yusho chuckled.

“Odd-Eyes Dragon might not be happy that you’re getting so upset with this, I’m sure he just wants you to have fun Yuya”

Yuya sobbed a little more, glancing at the card now on Declan’s side of the field. His eyes softened and he nodded.

“I’m sorry Odd-Eyes…I didn’t mean to make you sad…” he smiles widely “Its okay, I’ll beat Declan then get you back!”

“That’s my boy, cheers over tears”

Yuya watched his father walk off and go to sit down next to Leo but shivered at the strange look Leo was giving him. Why was Declan’s dad always looking at him like he was a bad guy?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuya shook his head rapidly, gritting his teeth as he forced his mind back to the present. He draws and stares at his hand.

_What do I do? I need to change up my Pendulum scales but I need to deal with the cards in my Pendulum zones first…_

His eyes scanned the field and then he took off, climbing up a kind of ladder before jumping up to another platform and grabbing the action card. He looked at it and smiled.

“Perfect” he switches with a spell in his hand “I activate _Pendulum Call_! I can discard a card and add 2 ‘Magician’ Pendulum monsters from my deck to my hand! I add my Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician to my hand!”

Declan hummed thoughtfully. What exactly did Yuya have planned?

“Next! I activate the action spell _Mad Hurricane_!” Yuya smiles widely “This shuffles all the cards on my field back into my deck, so my Performapal Pinch Helper trap, my Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn and my Performapal Odd-Eyes Minitaurus go straight back to my deck!”

Declan nods, understanding. Now that his Pendulum Zones were empty, Yuya is able to Pendulum summon with a larger scale. He smiles, good this duel was going places.

“Now, its time to reset the Pendulum scale with my Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and my Scale 8 Timegazer Magician! Let’s go!”

Once again, the word ‘PENDULUM’ crossed his duel disk as the two monsters appeared in pillars of light behind him. Yuya smirks and holds his hand to the sky.

“Swing Pendulum! Carve the arc of victory once again! **I Pendulum Summon!** Play it safe, Performapal Safety Magician! Trick and flip, Performapal Skullcrobat Joker!”

Skullcrobat Joker landed then notice Safety Magician land. He stared at the magician shocked, looked to Yuya the back to the Magician. Yuya giggled.

“Right, sorry. Skullcrobat Joker meet Safety Magician. Safety Magician, Skullcrobat Joker!”

Safety Magician made a giggle and bounced, floating in the air as she twirled around. Her pastel green and blue outfit flowing around her. When she landed again, she accidently dropped her staff, she quickly fumbled to pick it up but her hat fell forward.

She squeaked in surprise, pushing it back up onto her bright green hair and giggled. Skullcrobat Joker laughed and bounced a little before looking over at Declan. Yuya nodded.

“Right, eyes on the prize.” He says “Next, I’m going to use Dark Contract with the Leviathan’s effect! Isn’t it handy we can both use that card Declan?”

Declan didn’t even respond, quietly watching Yuya’s moves. He was certainly curious as to what Yuya planned to do.

“Let’s see…I’m going to special summon your _D/D/D Wave King Caesar_!” Yuya smirks then nods to Safety Magician.

Safety Magician floated into the air as Declan’s monster appeared on Yuya’s field. The Magician landed on a high up platform and leant down picking up an action card. She waved at Yuya and jump right off the platform giggling as she floated down to the ground level safely.

Yuya took the card with a smile.

“Thanks Safety Magician” he replied before sliding the card into his duel disk “Ah, exactly what I needed. The Action Spell _Role Switch_! I can choose one monster on my field and one monster on your field and switch control of them until the end of my next turn”

Declan narrowed his eyes, glancing at Odd-Eyes. Of course, Yuya couldn’t stand fighting against his dragon. He was going to take control of Odd-Eyes, of course doing so would mean his defeat as there was no possible way for him to survive the 1000 points of damage he would receive at the beginning of Declan’s turn from using Dark Contract with the Leviathan’s effect.

\-------------

“Yuya hasn’t gotten a single Action Trap this duel” Sora comments “He couldn’t _stop_ getting them against Sylvio”

“Every field has its own ratio of spells and traps.” Zuzu replies “Acrobatic Circus…has way more spells than traps usually. Its luck really, though Yuya choosing Acrobatic Circus might’ve been for that reason.”

“Ya, can you imagine if he had to deal with trap after trap like with Sylvio!? He’d never beat Declan!” Frederick laughed.

“Yuya tends to get the worst luck when it’s possible” Ally joked.

Sora hummed, sucking on his nearly finished lollipop.  
“I guess Prison Tower of Darkville just had a higher ratio of traps…” he huffed “Sylvio probably planned that…”

“Probably, knowing an LID student” Zuzu muttered, folding her arms “Jeez, if all LID students are like that, I don’t want to meet another one”

\---------------  
Yuya’s gaze drifted over to his dragon, meeting its dual coloured eyes. The dragon let out a low growl and Yuya let a small smile cross his lips.

“I know” he whispers before taking a deep breath “I use Role Switch to exchange D/D/D Wave King Caesar for you D/D/D Oracle King d’Arc!”

Declan’s eyes widened in surprise as a projection of the card appeared, pulling d’Arc through a mirror and throwing Caesar out towards him. Yuya sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“I may want Odd-Eyes back. But I know for a fact that I won’t win if I do that and he wouldn’t be happy with me for throwing the duel away like that…so I made a better choice” he pointed at Odd-Eyes “Sorry bud…Battle phase!”

Declan frowned, unexpected…Odd-Eyes currently had 0 attack due to the effect of Dark Contract with the Leviathan so Declan would be taking 1800 points of damage if Yuya chose to attack with Skullcrobat Joker which was his best option at the moment.

Declan hummed, of course there was Safety Magician and its effects…that could create some issues.

Yuya then turned his gaze on his Magician.

“Performapal Safety Magician use your special ability! I can choose one monster on my field and increase its attack points by Safety Magician’s defence points! I choose my Skullcrobat Joker to raise its attack points to 3800!”

Declan nodded slowly.

“I see”

_Its obvious what he’s planning. He stole d’Arc meaning I will 3000 points of damage at the beginning of my nest turn. With my current life points he knows I’ll survive so he powered up Skullcrobat Joker and made the conscious decision to attack and destroy his favourite monster to ensure I wouldn’t have enough life points to prevent the damage and thus giving him the win…he’s definitely gotten better however…_

“So now! Performapal Skullcrobat Joker attack Odd-”

Yuya suddenly stopped, he lost his balance for a moment Safety Magician yelping in shock and catching him to help him stay standing. She looked at him concerned and he shot her a weak smile.

“I’m okay…guess I’m tired” He muttered; confusion etched on his face.

_Why do I feel so dizzy? This isn’t just exhaustion…something weirds going on…_ he shakes his head; it won’t matter once he wins.

“Okay…try again…Performapal Skullcrobat Joker attack Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

Skullcrobat Joker rushed over to the dragon hummed and then pulled out a small tin can. Odd-Eyes had a look on its face that indicated it knew what was coming but looked down anyway. The can suddenly exploded with fake snakes; Skullcrobat Joker snickered cheekily laughing at the Dragon as it huffed irritably before bursting into pixels.

**_Declan Akaba  
_ ** _LP: 1700_

Yuya inhales slowly, this is it. He ends his turn and – if he played everything right – he’ll win.

“Alright Declan, moment of truth. Your move”

Declan sighed, switching into his standby phase. Yuya instantly cleared his throat and announced:

“The effects of your Dark Contract with the Gate and Dark Contract with the Leviathan now activate! In total you take 3000 points of damage, while I’ll take 1000” He looks towards the observation room “However, because I took control of D/D/D Oracle King d’Arc its special ability will change that damage into life points for me, no such luck for Mr. Akaba here.”

Yuya glared with a small smile.

“Declan will be taking all that damage and with only 1700 life points…this duel is over”

Declan nods.

“Agreed. It is over, but it doesn’t end with a victory for you” He goes to tap his duel disk “Because I have D/D/D Dusk King Lazarus on my field at the moment, plus my Dark Contract with the Glyph is in the graveyard I can activate said Contract’s final effect!”

“F-Final effect!?”

“I banish it along with my D/D/D Dusk King Lazarus and negate the damage I would’ve taken from card effects this turn…not only that but-” he was cut off by a ring on his duel disk, he tapped it a couple times then blinked.

_…An Emergency… what bad luck and intriguing timing…_

“Unfortunately Yuya…our duel will have to end now. I need to go”

“B-But…” Declan suddenly closed his duel disk, thus ending the duel without a winner “But aren’t you gonna finish your turn!?”

“No” Declan replied “I would’ve won anyway. You would’ve been dealt the 3000 points of damage directly to your life points. Regardless of D/D/D Oracle King d’Arc’s effect, since that effect of my Dark Contract can’t be negated”

Yuya blinked in shock…he couldn’t have stopped that…

“You have improved though Yuya, perhaps next time I have time we should duel again. You may have better luck then”

Yuya just stared as Declan left, gritting his teeth a little.

_All that…and I still would’ve lost!? And I only didn’t because he got called away?!_

“Yuya!” Yoko announced, running in and giving her son a huge hug “That was a great duel”

“I was gonna lose” Yuya mutters.

Zuzu chuckles.

“You held your own against the _head_ of the Leo Corporation. Win or lose, you kicked butt!”

Yuya smiles a little, a faint blush coming over his cheeks.

“U-Uh…thanks Zuzu…if you say so”

\------------------

About an hour later Declan was sitting down, listening to a quick briefing on the emergency he’d been called away from the duel for.

“I see…” he rests his head on his hands, looking at the footage from the warehouse district of Paradise City.

Though it was dark out and the cameras weren’t set up in alleyways, from the outside it was clear enough to see when a burst of blue light shot out of one of the gaps between the warehouses.

A few moments later, two people peeked out, they looked around though despite their best attempts it was impossible to get an idea of _who_ these people were. They were both cloaked, with masks and glasses or goggles of some kind to conceal their identities. The only thing they could tell was that one was shorter than the other.

The shorter one suddenly moved back in the footage, as if stumbling over and ended up in the shadows out of range of the cameras. The taller visitor turned and rushed over, probably concerned for their comrade.

“…And they haven’t moved?”

“Not since then Mr. President.” His assistant explained “But we’ll keep an eye out”

“Good…I can’t tell if their allies or enemies yet…so we’d best not intervene until we know…though it’s strange…”

“What’s strange sir?”

“This occurred right as Yuya was declaring his last attack…he stopped mid order, seemingly feeling sick…like the smaller cloaked figure…the timing is…impeccable. Far too much so to be a coincidence”

“Hm, that’s certainly true”

“…Another odd thing to add to the list regarding Yuya Sakaki…” He hummed adjusting his glasses “I need to go. It’s getting late and Riley must be wondering where I am by now. Call me if you hear _anything_ about this understood?”

“Yes Sir”

Declan stood up and walked out, this was all getting _far_ too interesting for his liking…

\--------------

“How are you feeling?” The taller cloaked teen asked.

He offered a hand down to his black-clad friend who was currently sitting on the ground, head between his knees as he tried to get rid of the dizzy feeling.

The younger teen sighed and looked up, his mask concealed his mouth and his dark tinted, square goggles concealed his eyes making it nigh impossible to tell how he was feeling.

“A little better” he muttered, taking his friend’s hand and standing up “I might need a few more minutes though”

His voice was eerily similar to Yuya’s only it was a tone deeper and had an odd edge to it, like it was a tad rougher.

“That’s fine” The older teen looked outside, “Warehouses…we’re alone for now I think…I spot a camera though”

“So, we’ve already been seen?” The dark teen asked.

“Maybe…it could just be basic security though, if that’s the case unless something goes down here, they wouldn’t have real reason to check the footage”

“Good” he peeked around and his eyes widened behind the goggles, the city’s lights looked beautiful and too eerily familiar “…it’s pretty…like our city…”

“Like it used to be…” his friend replied, anger dripping into his voice “I say we investigate, scope around the city. Then meet back here at dawn”

“Good idea” He starts to move before turning back to his friend “Hey, be careful. I know what you’re like and we shouldn’t start anything till we know what we’re up against. No need to make any enemies where we could have allies.”

“Yeah…whatever…” The taller teen turned away, putting his hands in the pockets of his long purple trench coat “See you in a few hours”

“See y-”

His friend had already jumped up onto the roof of a warehouse and run off, moving like lightning…like Yuya on an action field. The smaller teen sighed, running a hand through his spiked, dual coloured, lavender and black hair.

“Guess I’m on my own for while” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pin…the same kind of pin Sylvio wore that signified he was part of the Leo Institute of Dueling “Time to do a bit of investigating…”

With that the dark clad teen moved behind the warehouses, sprinting through the shadows. Better he was on the ground than the roof with that strange dizzy feeling…it was familiar that feeling.

He’d felt it twice before, once…when all of this started…and the other…when he met… _him_.

Sure, it was a hell of a leap in logic, but with the strange things that had happened to him in the last few months it was safe to say that associating dizziness with the appearance of that… _monster_ was the least crazy he could assume.

_He has to be here…in this city somewhere…and if I see him…_ the teen narrowed his eyes, a strange dark determination in them _I’ll make him pay, I’ll make him regret what he did!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOO BOY WRITING! XD This was FUNNN, I’m gonna have fun next episode hehehehe my favourite character is now part of the story! WOO! Please share your thoughts on the episode! ^^
> 
> Anywayyyy….NEW CUSTOM CARDS! (I realised upon writing up the custom cards used…that Yuya only used one of his custom cards and it wasn’t a new one lol.)  
> \--------  
> Declan:  
> D/D Ghast [Level 5 – Dark – ATK: 1500/DEF: 0 – Fiend/Effect: If this card is special summoned add 1 “D/D” Monster or “Dark Contract” card to your hand.]
> 
> D/D Siren [Level 3 – Dark – ATK: 300/DEF: 1000 – Fiend/Effect: If you control a “D/D/D” monster you can special summon this card from your hand, if summoned this way special summon 1 “D/D” Monster from your graveyard with its effects negated.]
> 
> D/D/D Dusk King Lazarus [Level 8 – Dark – ATK: 2000/DEF: 2300 – Fiend/Ritual/Effect: Must be Ritual summoned through a ‘D/D/D’ or ‘Dark Contract’ spell. As long as this monster is on the field no “D/D/D” monsters you control can be destroyed by card effects. When this card leaves the field, you can add 1 “D/D” monster from your deck to your hand.]
> 
> D/D/D Storm King Niro [Rank 3 – Water – ATK: 2300/DEF: 1000 – Fiend/Xyz/Effect: 2 Level 3 ‘D/D’ monsters. When this card is Xyz summoned, you can discard 1 “D/D” card from your hand to special summon 1 “D/D/D” monster in your graveyard. During the battle phase you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to make any battle damage you would take this turn 0.]
> 
> Dark Contract with the Glyph [Spell – Continuous – During your main phase you can Ritual Summon 1 Fiend Type Ritual Monster from your deck, using monsters from your hand or field as Ritual Materials. You may destroy this card and add 1 “D/D” monster from your deck to your hand. You can only use each effect of “Dark Contract with the Glyph” once per turn. Once per turn, during your standby phase: Take 1000 damage. You can banish this card from your graveyard along with 1 “D/D/D” Ritual Monster you control to negate any damage you take through card effects this turn and instead deal that damage to your opponent (This effect cannot be negated)]
> 
> Dark Contract with the Leviathan [Trap – Continuous - Once per turn, either player can special summon any monster from either player’s extra deck ignoring its summoning conditions only its attack becomes 0. Any player who uses this card’s effect takes 1000 points of damage at the beginning of their next standby phase. As long as this card is on your field all “D/D” and “D/D/D” monsters on either player’s field gain 300 atk points. You take 1000 points of damage at the beginning of your standby phase for every turn this card is in play. When this card leaves the field return any monsters summoned through this effect to the extra deck of the player they came from.]
> 
> D/D Contract Revision [Trap – If you control a ‘D/D/D’ monster, negate a card effect that would deal you damage this turn. If this card is in the graveyard you may banish it and destroy 1 ‘Dark Contract’ card on your field, then activate from your deck a ‘Dark Contract’ card with a different name]  
> \---------  
> Action cards:  
> Special Action [Action Spell - Select one monster on your field, that monster can attack every special summoned monster on your opponent’s field once]
> 
> Role Switch [Select one monster on your field and one on your opponent’s field, until the end of your next turn switch control of these two monsters]


	7. Scale 7 - Imperial Wrath of Revolt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sylvio's still bitter about losing to Yuya, regretting not actually taking the duelist seriously, after being confronted by Zuzu a strange cloaked duelist shows up and challenges him to a duel, Sylvio finds himself greatly outmatched...

“Well…Yuya’s asleep again” Zuzu groaned.

It was late afternoon. After a day of Yuya having…surprising focus during school (which left Zuzu awfully concerned for him) as well as being too out of it to even agree to a duel against…anyone, Zuzu wasn’t _too_ surprised Yuya was asleep.

Gong on the other hand, was extremely irritated.

“Somebody should wake him up, because he can’t keep sleeping through his duel school lessons”

Zuzu laughed.

“Yeah, well after his duel with Declan Akaba…maybe its no surprise he’s asleep. I’m surprised he stayed awake during our lessons at school, him falling asleep at You Show once isn’t too bad”

Sora huffed, peeking into the room where they were.

“ _Guys…_ ” he complained “You went in there to ask if Yuya could go get us some Ice cream! And you’ve been in there for a minute and I have heard no word of any ice cream!”

The blue haired teen munched irritably on his lollipop. Putting on the best pout he could.

“If I don’t get some ice cream soon, I’m going to wither away”

Zuzu rolled her eyes, walking out.

“Never mind, I’ll go get it.” Then she looked at Sora “And we went in there to _check_ on him. Not to complain because _you_ wanted Ice cream and dropped the whole tub Sora, you made a huge mess.”

The three younger kids laughed. Ally gently nudged Sora, giggling incessantly.

“Oop, Sora, she caught you out”

Sora pulled the lollipop out of his mouth, shrugging with complete indifference.

“Well, next time, don’t put the lid on so tight Zuz-”

He cut himself off when he could practically _feel_ the anger surging off of Zuzu, he stared her down as he raised her fan and gulped.

“U-Uh, I mean…Sorry?”

The fan disappeared instantly.

“That’s what I thought” she picks up a bag and smiles “I’ll be back in a little bit, tell Yuya where I am if he wakes up!”

“Will do” Tate announces happily.

Zuzu waves and walks out, heading to go get some ice cream for everyone.

\----------------

_“Stop…laughing…”_

_There was fire everywhere, buildings crumbling around the dark clad teen as he clenched his fists. Fury spreading through his veins._

_“Stop it…”_

_There were kids, both younger and older than him, walking around dressed in varying amounts of red, yellow and blue. As well as some strange soldiers dressed in white and blue. They were smiling, laughing at the devastation, causing it with their cards. Slamming the cards on sword shaped hard light blades._

_There were flashes of a purple light almost constantly and every flash sent another burst of rage through the darkly dressed teen’s blood. Duel Monsters cards dropped to the ground…these cards bearing the images of young children, adults, anyone and everyone…_

_The teen did his best to contain his anger, he had to. He couldn’t stoop to their level despite the feelings building within him…he just –_

_A girl, with long dual coloured purple hair and pink eyes, a small silver bracelet around her wrist decorated with a yellow diamond shaped gem and small protrusions on either side of the gem that reminded the teen of feathers…_

_She was standing between him and some of those cruel duelists. Her own duel disk at the ready…but nobody was really ready for…for_ those monsters.

_Another flash of purple and a scream blocks his vision…_

_Then a card falls to the ground…_

_And the fury can no longer be contained, he screams with a passion his eyes burning a dark blue hue as a black and purple dragon appears behind him, letting out a rage filled roar. Electricity surrounds his Dragon before the creature’s mandibles begin to glow deep purple and it charges forward towards those_ scum.

\--

The same dark clad teen gasps, jumping awake and looking around as his breathing slowly calms down. Eventually he dropped his head in his hands, gritting his teeth behind his mask.

“Calm…down…just a nightmare…” his whole body was shaking, which only led to him being even more unnerved by his dream “…calm. Down. That’s not what happened…you _know_ that isn’t what happened…calm down…”

He takes a few more deep breaths before standing up and peeking out of the ally. He almost had to remind himself where he was, he must’ve fallen asleep waiting for his friend to arrive…

It was a surprise he’d felt safe enough to fall asleep. He sighed, leaning against the wall. He was used to these nightmares; he’d grown numb to them at this point…so…why was he so shaken up?

“Strange…he’s not here yet? Its nearly sunset and we agreed to meet at dawn…” He muttered to himself. Maybe his friend had arrived and seen that the teen was asleep and decided to come back later…?

_No that isn’t like him…he’d have either woken me up or waited till I woke up on my own…_ He groaned, running a hand through his hair.

He’d have _noticed_ that his friend was taking too long if he’d been _awake!_

_Stupid. Stupid. Stupid…ugh…now I’ve gotta try and find him…but who knows where he could be!_

Of course, he certainly _hoped_ his friend wasn’t getting up to anything but…he knew his friend all too well. The teen made his way to the roof of one of the warehouses and sits down again, deciding to observe for a bit longer. Maybe his friend was just…running late?

The teen pulls out the pin he’d been investigating. He’d seen so many people wearing this pin but most were his age or younger…they didn’t seem like threats either, he’d observed some of their duels from the shadows. Good duelists, yes. But warriors? Hardly.

Their dueling didn’t contain an edge, or sharpness. No true ‘blade’ as he would describe it. That was good of course…it meant this city and its people lived in a time of peace…

Though, it was also bad. Because it meant this city and its people were _exactly_ like his city and his people before their peace got ripped away from them…he’d warn them it was coming, because he knew it was, but they’d hardly believe a stranger about something so far-fetched.

He sighs.

There was nothing he could do but try and stop it before it happens…

If he even could.

\----------------

Around the same time, Yuya shot awake looking around as he tried to recall where he was and what was going on.

He took a deep breath.

“You Show…right, I sat down and must’ve fallen asleep…”

He ran a hand through his hair before pulling up the goggles currently hanging around his neck, adjusting them so they sat right on his head again. He sighed, before he heard giggling in the next room.

“Oh, right…everyone else must still be out there…”

Yuya frowned, shaking his head a little to clear it of the lingering memories of his nightmare. It was strange, that city on fire, those duelists he’d never seen before, the girl with the bracelet look kinda like Zuzu…at least a little.

People being turned into cards – okay that one was a little ridiculous, such a thing was hardly possible.

But then the utter rage…it felt so…wrong to him. Yuya could be angry sure, he was human and thus felt all the same range of emotions as most humans did. But such pure, blinding rage wasn’t in his nature.

And that monster that appeared, he suspected it was a Duel Monsters card, based on the situation around him but…he’d never seen a dragon like that before.

Had his imagination come up with all of that?

He was fairly sure it wasn’t _him_ watching all that stuff go down, he didn’t even own a single item of black clothing. He _was_ Yusho Sakaki’s son after all, he preferred bright colours and over the top designs.

“Oh! Yuya, you’re awake!” Sora said happily.

Yuya suddenly blinked, looking over. When had the door opened? He must’ve been too distracted to realise.

“Yeah” he muttered “still a little groggy though”

“Zuzu just went out to get some ice cream!”

“I…what? Principal Boyle always has some…Sora what did you do?”

“Hey! It wasn’t _my_ fault, Zuzu did the lid up too tightly on the tub!” he pouted.

Yuya chuckled.

“Sora, it’s a _tub_. How tight could you possible put it on?”

“Apparently like it was super glued! I swear, between that magic fan of hers and her skills at making everything nearly _impossible_ to open…” Sora shook his head, munching on his lollipop “You’re lucky she’s your girlfriend, she’d be a really bad person to be enemies with…”

“Yeah” Yuya laughed before he froze, repeated Sora’s sentence in his head and proceeded to turn a deep red “H-Hey! Zuzu is _not_ my girlfriend!”

“She isn’t?” The blue haired boy tilted his head curiously “But the way you guys act, I figured you were childhood sweethearts or something”

“No! _Friends! We’re friends!_ ” Yuya states quickly “Just because we grew up together and stuff doesn’t automatically make us in love! God, where’d you even get that idea from!? Argh!”

Yuya storms out of the room, fighting the blush creeping up his face while Sora stands there staring at him.

A few moments later Sora hummed to himself and pulled his lollipop out of his mouth, a cheeky smile etched on his face.

“Definitely in love”

\----------------

Zuzu hummed to herself trying to recall what flavours everyone preferred.

_Sora and Frederick will try literally anything, so they aren’t a big deal. Gong didn’t want any…Tate and Ally want strawberry and me and Yuya are chocolate!_ Then she giggled _double chocolate for Yuya actually, probably with the rainbow sprinkles we have in the cupboard if I know him well enough._

Yuya always had a habit of being a little specific in…well everything. From the obnoxiously long and down to the tiniest detail explanations of his planned Dueltainment performance, to every little detail about what action field he was planning to use – and she meant _every little detail_ – Yuya was irritatingly specific and strangely knowledgeable when he was given a chance to show it off.

…Of course this applied to the way he likes his food too. Honestly, Yuya was so lucky Zuzu knew him so well or every time they went out to do…anything, they’d be waiting forever for Yuya to explain in excruciating detail what he wanted.

Certainly, Ally and Frederick had been surprised when they went out for milkshakes with the older kids one day and found Zuzu not even needing to ask Yuya what exactly he wanted, instead listing it off for him (in a far more concise manner too).

She froze mid thought, noticing Sylvio Sawatari ahead with his three friends. The pink haired teen frowned, raising an eyebrow.

“Sure, he beat me but its not a big deal” Sylvio was saying “It was only because that Fusion user Sora showed up”

Ootomo made a small sound of agreement while Yamabe chuckled. Kakimoto hummed a little before speeding up to look Sylvio in the eye.

“I mean…he _is_ Yusho Sakaki’s son, it’s not impossible that he could’ve beaten you if he’d had his cards with him.” He comments “Besides, most people reckon his duel was more entertaining than any of yours”

“Kakimoto, did I ask for your opinion?” Sylvio asked, his voice dropping into a tone of warning.

Kakimoto flinched, then shook his head a little.

“That’s what I thought”

Zuzu huffed from the distance, her face reddening with irritation.

_Jerk. Even to his own friends._

Sylvio paused for a second, then glances at Kakimoto again.

“You just gave me an idea.” He smirked a little “You’re right of course, I can’t call myself an Entertainment Duelist and lose to someone like Yuya!”

Kakimoto frowned, raising an eyebrow. That wasn’t exactly what he’d been saying…

“So…I think next time we duel, it has to be without any cheap gimmicks, I’ll even let him keep his precious Pendulum Cards for the duel. I have to beat him at his own game, if I beat the son of Yusho Sakaki at Dueltaining then it will really be a proper victory!”

Zuzu heard the other mutter words of agreement before Sylvio snickered.

“ _Besides_ , I wasn’t even dueling him at my best!” he chuckled “He hasn’t even seen my best move yet!”

“But Sylvio” Yamabe started “You realise there’s no way Yuya’s going to except a duel challenge from you right?”

“You stole his cards” Ootomo added “He’s got a pretty good reason to deny you”

Sylvio chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Heh, ah don’t worry about that I’ve got a plan in mind…” he smirks “Follow me”

Zuzu watches as Sylvio suddenly changed direction, heading more towards the warehouse area of the city. His three friends followed after him quickly.

_…I don’t like this…_ she thought, what was Sylvio planning? He clearly wanted pay back for losing to Yuya but he wouldn’t try anything…too underhanded right?

The blue-eyed girl shook her head, clenching her fists.

_No. That sounds_ exactly _like this jerk. I need to make sure he isn’t going to try anything…_ she pulls up her duel disk and sends a message to Yuya through it, just so he wasn’t worried.

Moments later she charged off, chasing after Sylvio and his friends with the intention of working out _exactly_ what he was planning to do.

\--------------

The black clad duelist had nearly fallen asleep again, he was a little surprised by how eerily safe he felt in this city. He usually was far more able to stay alert, even with only a few hours of sleep every couple days, but it seemed the last week or so of nearly zero sleep was finally getting to him…

His head drooped a little before he was startled awake again by the sound of giggling. He looked around then stood up, seeing four teens walking towards one of the warehouses. His eyes narrowed behind his goggles and he crept closer over the warehouse roof to hear what they were laughing about.

“Are you sure this’ll work Sylvio?” Yamabe asked.

Sylvio nods, pushing the warehouse door open.

“I’ll just send him a little message; it shouldn’t be too hard to get him here”

The dark duelist frowned behind his mask, the tone of voice, the body language, the kind of laughter. It all added up to him, he could immediately tell that this Sylvio was extremely underhanded, dishonourable and he had the suspicious feeling whoever this ‘him’ the teen wanted to see had ‘wronged’ this teen somehow.

_I feel bad for whoever this Sylvio guy has it out for_ he thought to himself, but he turned away. No reason for him to get involved in – wait, who was that?

He’d seen a shadow in the gaps between the warehouses. He jumped down and into the shadows himself, blending in perfectly. He watched as whoever it was, crept up to the warehouse the four boys had gone into.

As he got close enough his eyes widened.

“Lulu!?” he whispered in shock, then shook his head.

No, this girl was a bit different. Her hair for one was shorter, pulled into pigtails and bright pink. She had a bracelet on the same wrist his friend Lulu had one on, but it was a very different bracelet. Besides that, this girl’s whole body language was a lot more boisterous and loud than Lulu’s.

Why would this girl be caught up with these four duelists?

She shoved the warehouse door open and charged inside, the dark duelist instantly raced over and leaned against the wall of warehouse listening keenly to the situation. Damn, if this girl didn’t look eerily like Lulu, he’d have left to find his friend by now…

“Sylvio!” She shouted, causing the duelist to flinch.

_She_ sounds _like Lulu too!?_

“Oh, what are you doing here?” the boy’s voice responds.

“I overheard what you were talking about, what are you planning with Yuya!?”

_Yuya?_ The dark duelist thought _Is that who this Sylvio guy has it out for?_

“I just want to rematch him”

“Like hell he’d ever accept another challenge from you after what you pulled last time!”

“Oh, I know, I was just thinking of a way to get around that” Sylvio comments.

The duelist hears multiple sets of footsteps, he shuts his eyes to listen closer.

_Two people moving away from the door, one moving closer…_

“Thank you, you’ve just provided me with exactly the incentive I need to get Yuya here. Shall we duel Zuzu?”

The sound of duel disk starting up, followed by the sound of the doors beginning to close. The last thing the duelist heard of the girl – Zuzu apparently – she was loudly proclaiming:

“Fine! You’re on Sylvio Sawatari! Prepare to get schooled, You Show Duel School style!”

_This isn’t your place to get involved. Stay out of it. Stay out of it._

If that girl was anything like Lulu then she was likely a good duelist, however she was outnumbered. If all four duelled her at once she’d likely lose…

Eventually the duelist sighs, even now, with his priorities the way they are he still can’t resist the urge to jump in and help. He walked to the door and roughly threw it open. The teen in front of him – Ootomo – gasped in shock.

“The heck dude!? Back off, there’s a duel about to start here”

The dark duelist stared at him and simply said:

“Yes” in a low tone “There is and you’ll do well not to get in the way”

Ootomo gulped at the tone and nodded, backing away. Zuzu turned and stared at him, Sylvio just groaned.

“Excuse me, we’re _busy_ ” he comments.

“Yes, I can see that.” He steps forward, moving in front of Zuzu as his eyes scan the three other boys.

_Wait…all four of them are wearing those pins…_ he frowns a little, thank goodness they couldn’t see _these four could have something to do with Duel Academy…_

“Excuse me, I was just about to Duel him so-”

“I know, I heard” He replies “But…”

He sighs.

“I suspect they had no intention of playing fairly, I don’t doubt you could handle one or even two of them by yourself but there are four here and you’re alone” he gives her a stern glare “Please believe me when I say you never would’ve been allowed a fair duel, they’re using you to get to this friend of yours”

Zuzu huffs.

“I figured that much” she shot Sylvio a look.

“Look, I just want a rematch” Sylvio sighs “And I know for a fact he’s too scared of losing to me to accept one without a little encouragement”

“You _stole_ his cards Sylvio! You don’t _deserve_ a rematch!” she insists “And don’t you dare say Yuya was scared!”

“Why not? Like father like son after all, he’s a coward just like his fath-”

“Shut the hell up Sylvio!” Zuzu shouts, stepping froward before she noticed the dark duelist’s hand blocking her way.

“He did what?” he asked quietly, “he _stole_ your friend’s cards?”

“And used them against him, it really threw Yuya off his game!”

A duelists cards were part of them, of who they were. He could only imagine how this Yuya would feel having precious friends of his stolen…this Sylvio had no real heart as a duelist if he’d do something like that…

And since he was wearing one of those pins…

The duelist gave a small smile behind his mask.

_Just this once, I can help someone out and still be working towards my goal…I’ll have to hold back though…_

He raises his arm and his black cloak slides away from it revealing his deep purple duel disk, however it wasn’t the same as Zuzu or Sylvio’s. His was bulkier, more rounded and the purple hard light blade that projected out of it was slightly different in shape, being a little shorter on one end and longer on the other.

“So, Sylvio was it?” he started “I challenge you”

Sylvio scoffed.

“You realise you’re challenging someone from the _Leo Institute,_ right? You don’t stand a chance”

“We’ll never know unless you accept my challenge” He insists.

_I can already tell he won’t answer my questions easily, so I’ll just push him to the edge of defeat, that should be enough to make him talk._

“Fine then Mr. Mystery, I’m up for it” he glares at Zuzu “Don’t you move Boyle, we’ll have our duel once I’m done with this waste of time”

The two duelists squared up and stared each other down.

“ **Let’s Duel!** ”

**_Sylvio Sawatari  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

**_Unknown  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

Sylvio raised an eyebrow, staring at his duel disk.

“Unknown?? Why wouldn’t your name show up?!” he asked in confusion.

Sylvio’s confusion was warranted of course, the duel disks usually all have an ID signature that picks up who’s dueling…in fact, the mysterious duelist _knew_ that and had made absolutely certain his name wouldn’t appear if he duelled anyone here.

“Are we talking or dueling?”

“Dueling of course, well you go first Mr. Mystery”

\--------------------------

“Hm?”

“What’s up Yuya?” Ally asked.

Yuya stared at his duel disk.

“Zuzu just sent me a message”

Sora runs over, looking excited.

“Is it to say she’ll be here with the ice cream soon?” He asks hopefully.

Yuya groaned, pushing the smaller boy away as he read the message.

“She says that something came up and she might be a little late”

“Aw…” Frederick sat down looking disappointed “No ice cream”

“We just have to be a bit patient Frederick” Tate said calmly “don’t worry”

Yuya nodded in agreement before staring back at his duel disk. What kind of _something_? Was Zuzu in trouble? Why was Yuya immediately assuming Zuzu was in trouble? The teen groaned and sat down, running a hand through his hair.

_What is with me today, I feel so jumpy and on edge. Zuzu’s fine, I’ll bet she just ran into a friend or something…_

“Let’s pull out one of the board games or something, that should pass the time!”

\----------------------------

_So, he insists that I make the first move?_ The dark duelist wondered, _interesting, that’s a strategically good move…he likely expects me to pull out my best moves right away._

He glances at his hand, then back to Sylvio.

_Its unfortunate for him then, that my cards disagree with that sentiment._

The hand he had was what one would call…disappointing. At least, its what anyone other than _him_ would call that. He knew what his cards had in mind, a slow start and well…the duelist agreed wholeheartedly.

After all, this duelist was well versed in the art of battle. He would wait and see what Sylvio did first, he didn’t want to be needlessly ruthless towards an innocent duelist but he didn’t want to risk going easy on a possible enemy.

_We’ll see what kind of duelist this Sylvio is,_ he holds up all five cards in his hand, _no duelist can hide the true measure of their heart in a duel. This is where he will bear his soul out and reveal his true nature. Whether he realises it or not._

“I’ll lay all five cards in my hand face down” he says calmly.

Sylvio and Zuzu both blinked in confusion, before Sylvio broke out into laughter, looking at his three friends.

“ _That’s_ your move!?” he finally said “After all that ‘brooding, mysterious, dark duelist’ schtick, your best move is lay _five face downs?!_ What a _rubbish_ hand he must’ve gotten, right guys!?”

Kakimoto and Yamabe laughed in agreement. Ootomo nervously laughed along, remembering the dark glare in the duelist’s eyes earlier. He had the strangest feeling that there was more to this dark clad teenager than meets the eye.

_He’s quick to underestimate his opponents._ The duelist noted, _likely that means he has an inherently powerful deck, or some kind of privileged upbringing that makes him see himself as the best._

“I end my turn”

Zuzu stepped forward a little, a look of concern etched on her face.

“Hey, mystery guy, I get you’re trying to help but maybe you should just let me due-”

The duelist glances at her, shaking his head before she can even finish her sentence. Then – in a tone so quiet Zuzu couldn’t be sure if she was imagining it – he simply said:

“Trust me, please”

The pink-haired duelist took a step back, his voice had come across as a lot softer in that moment…for a minute there…he kind of sounded like…she shook her head, no, now she’s being crazy.

“Alright fine, but you’d better not lose”

He nods and turns back to face Sylvio. He said nothing, merely his icy stare was enough to urge the other teen to make his move. Words were unnecessary in a duel between two true duelists, their cards did all the talking for them.

And he intended to say _a lot_.

“Fine, fine. I draw!” Sylvio glanced down at his cards and placed one on his duel disk “First, I’ll summon my level 4, _Zero Dart Striker_ in attack mode!”

The armoured warrior appeared, its armour glistening a polished emerald green. The duelist hummed, taking note of it.

_Odd…_

“Since I control one Dart Striker, I can special summon a second, specifically my level 5 Stealth Dart Striker!” Sylvio announced “For as long as Stealth Dart Striker is on my field all my Dart Striker monsters gain 100 attack points for every Dart Striker on the field. Currently that’s 200”

The new monster appeared, slightly taller then Zero Dart Striker and its armour was a shadowy black colour.

_I see, his intention is clearly to swarm the field and build up his monster’s attack strength. Currently that puts his Zero Dart Striker’s attack at 1700 and his Stealth Dart Striker’s at 1900. I see what he’s got planned, he’ll likely try and take out all my life points in one hit…which means he’ll probably summon another monster._

“Next, I control two warrior type monsters and this allows me to activate the effect of my level 5 _Master Dart Striker_ from my hand, meaning I can special summon it!”

_He’s stating all their levels even though I can see them…I wonder…_

The new monster had its glimmering silver armour, it looked sleek and prepared for battle “Of course, summoning it this way means I can’t special summon other monsters this turn unless they’re warrior type monsters”

_And now their attack increases again, 1800, 2000 and 1300…_ he nods a little.

“Next, I’ll play my spell card _Target Acquired!”_ Sylvio announces “And the target they’ve acquired is your face downs Mr. Mystery! I can destroy one card in your spell and trap zone for every ‘Dart Striker’ monster I control! Which is three!”

Sylvio points to the first three on the duelist’s left.

“I’ll get rid of those three!”

The duelist watches his first three face downs get blasted into particles, but he seemed greatly unaffected.

“Now it’s the battle phase! You messed up badly by challenging Sylvio Sawatari! Zero Dart Striker, attack him directly!”

_He fell straight into my trap._

The duelist quickly tapped his duel disk and suddenly three cards popped out of his graveyard slot. Sylvio started to look remotely concerned.

“When you attack me directly, I can activate the effects of the three trap cards you just sent to the graveyard”

Sylvio blinked, _uh oh…trap cards activating from the graveyard…? I don’t like this._

“These three copies of _The Phantom Knights of Shadow Veil_ can now be summoned to my field as level 4 – dark – warrior type monsters in defence mode. Only they’ll be banished when they leave the field”

Sylvio huffed as three smoky blue coloured ghosts appeared, riding atop gold armoured, night black horses.

“Never mind that!” he pointed at one of them “A replay happens and my Zero Dart Striker will continue its attack”

The duelist considers revealing his face down first but decides against it and allows his first Shadow Veil to be destroyed.

“Stealth Dart Striker! Attack!”

“I reveal my face down! _Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade_! I can target an effect monster on the field and negate that card’s effects, also that monster can longer attack or be attacked. I target Stealth Dart Striker, saving my Shadow Veil from destruction!”

Sylvio gritted his teeth.

_Idiot, he’s just buying time to try and actually get some good cards isn’t he!?_ The LID student thought irritably _Well, sucks for him that his little tricks won’t help him in the end!_

“Master Dart Striker! Take one of those Shadow Veils down!”

The silver monster charged forward, running the Shadow Veil through with its weapon. The duelist’s monster burst into pixels but he didn’t look too concerned…not that it was easy to tell what he was feeling behind the mask and goggles.

“Next, I lay this card face down and activate Zero Dart Striker’s effect! I can choose a number from 1 to 5 and increase this monster’s level by that amount!”

_Ah…I thought as much…he’s like me isn’t he?_ His eyes scanned the field and noted the other two monsters _those two are both level 5 monsters…so Sylvio will likely increase Zero Dart Striker’s level by 1._

“I’ll increase it by 1!” Sylvio looks extremely smug “You’re about to witness the power of an LID student! I overlay my three level 5 monsters in order to build the overlay network!”

A dark vortex appeared beneath him. It was hardly big and as there was no ARC System here the vortex gave off no wind of any sort. Honestly, it looked a little boring. The three monsters turned into purple lights and shot into the vortex before it exploded with light.

“Sharp, swift and skilled! Let’s see you protect yourself from this! **I Xyz Summon!** _Cannon Dart Blaster_!”

The new monster revealed itself with a burst of light, its armour was a deep orange, almost gold. It glimmered nicely and its weapon looked extremely dangerous. Three Purple lights swirled around it.

The duelist barely reacted to the summon.

_…_ That _was his Xyz Summon?_ He thinks, a little disappointed _I guess I shouldn’t have expected too much from a Standard Duelist but…_

Zuzu frowned worriedly, glancing at the masked duelist before she looked back to Sylvio.

_I had no clue Sylvio was part of LID’s Xyz summoning course…was he holding back in his duel against Yuya?_ She shook her head _no, of course not, he probably thought he could beat Yuya without Xyz summoning…but if he had…would Yuya have even stood a chance? Would he have held out long enough for Sora to show up?_

She grabbed her bracelet, nervously fiddling with it.

_Of course he would’ve, he’s_ Yuya _for goodness sakes…but what about this duelist? He’s clearly not a pushover…after all, a hand full of spells and traps didn’t even faze him…and I said I would trust him but-_

The Masked duelist looked over, noticing Zuzu’s body language. Specifically, how she was fiddling with her bracelet…for a split he saw that girl with purple hair – Lulu – in Zuzu’s place.

“Lulu, don’t worry” he says calmly “I’ve got this all under control”

“Lulu?” Zuzu asks in confusion, did the duelist forget her name?

The duelist suddenly went silent, looked away for a second and shook his head a little. When he looked back, he repeated his message, but it was phrased far differently.

“Zuzu, I mean, don’t concern yourself with the outcome of this duel” he turns back to Sylvio and says quietly “It’s already been decided”

_It’s already been decided!?_ Zuzu echoed internally _He sure sounds confident._

He then clears his throat.

“Since Stealth Dart Striker is no longer on the field, my Phantom Knights’ Fog Blade is destroyed”

“I use Cannon Dart Blaster’s special ability! By using one overlay unit I can destroy one set card in your spell and trap zone!” Sylvio announces, completely ignoring the duelist’s comment.

He pointed at the last face down on the duelist’s field and it exploded into pixels.

“Now, I’m going to end my turn. Over to you”

He draws his next card and looks down at his hand, then back at Sylvio. He knew exactly what to do but before he does…he may as well teach this arrogant duelist an important life lesson.

“Sylvio Sawatari, that’s your name, right?”

“Yes, what of it?”

“Just making sure I got it right, its rude to address your opponents incorrectly” He stares the teen down “So, Sawatari. I’ll commend your opening move. You thought to Xyz summon after your battle phase so as to take advantage of your numerous monsters”

Zuzu frowned.

_Why is he complimenting this jerk!?_

“You were prepared for the possibility of your one turn kill move failing, that’s good” he goes silent “But frankly, that was the worst Xyz summon I’ve ever seen.”

“W-What!?” Sylvio gasped “Shut up, you have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Perhaps that was too harsh, let me rephrase that.” He pauses for a moment “You have the fundamentals of the summon down, that’s good but the summon itself lacks power, edge, sharpness. In other worse, you’re like a decorative blade. You look nice on the surface, but in battle you’re completely useless”

Sylvio looked absolute aghast at being spoken to in such a manner. Who is this random duelist to talk to him – _the_ _soon to be mayor’s son_ – in such a rude and disrespectful manner?!

“Oh yeah!? And what exactly would you know about anything like that?!”

“An awful lot. In fact, far more than I care to admit” he replies “I’m not saying this to offend or look down upon you. I consider this my attempt at teaching you something, a valuable lesson that any duelist should learn”

Zuzu’s eyes widened and despite herself, she listened closer. This strange, masked teen seemed more knowledgeable than some adults she listened to before, she wanted to hear what he had to say.

“The true measure of a person is expressed in how they perform their passions, if your passion is dueling, then your plays reflect the nature of who you are. In your first turn, you bared your soul out to me and I find what I saw frankly disappointing.” He says bluntly.

“What in the world are you talking about?!” Sylvio was looker redder by the second.

“You think of yourself as higher than anyone else, you look down upon others and lie, cheat and steal your way to victories. No victory you have is truly earned and when you lose you make sure to get back at whoever beat you. No matter how fair the match was. In short you are a sad excuse for a duelist and this is reflected in your summoning, its weak and lacks edge.”

“Oh, shut up! You’re talking absolute nonsense! What do you even mean by ‘edge’!? It makes no sense!”

He closed his eyes for a moment.

“I intend to show you” he places a card on his duel disk “As its my turn, I summon my level 3, _The Phantom Knights of Hidden Daggers_!”

Sylvio frowned, staring at the ghostly blue whisp that appeared on the duelist’s field, rusty black daggers gripped in its blue fires.

“When I normal summon this monster, I can count it as two monsters for the Xyz summon of a ‘Phantom Knights’ Monster”

Sylvio’s three stooges gasped in shock.

“W-Wait, this guy can Xyz summon too?!” Yamabe asked.

“I guess so, I mean I doubt he’d say that just to bluff” Kakimoto replied.

Sylvio shot a look to them.

“Shut up!”

“I use two copies of my Hidden Daggers to build the overlay network!”

The same vortex appeared below the duelist, however…it was slightly different this time. It was bigger, the colours swirling in it were more intense, shades of gold, red and deep blue. As the two purple lights shot into it, the centre of the vortex was filled with a deep purple light…

And strangely, despite the lack of an Action Field…

The vortex gave off an intense wind that sent the duelist’s cloak flapping around like crazy. Zuzu covered her eyes to block the dust being whipped up by the overlay network.

_What in the world!? This isn’t possible, there’s no ARC system set up here. Solid Vision shouldn’t be possible!_

“Earlier in the duel, upon realising you were an Xyz user, I was considering the possibility that you were like me!” The dark duelist announces, “But I was wrong, you’re not like me and you will see _exactly_ the difference in our strength right now!”

Sylvio took a step back, deeply concerned by the sudden turn of events.

“Spirits of my fallen comrades” The duelist recited “resurrect and unite to become the light that rends the darkness! **I Xyz Summon!** ”

The vortex exploded, the purple and white light shooting straight out and up to the roof, even leaving marks on it. From the light his new monster made itself known. The first thing they saw was the black, armoured hooves of a horse charging out.

Then its turquoise eyes gleaming as it let out a whinny. Soon after, the knight was visible from the light, dressed in the same night black armour with some red markings on the chest and blue, spectral fire coming out of any uncovered parts. The knight had no visible helmet, making it a kind of headless horseman.

It slashed its huge sword, cutting the remainder of the Xyz summon light in two. The light burst into particles as the monster reared up threateningly.

“Reveal yourself – rank 3 – _The Phantom Knights of Break Sword!_ ”

\--------------

“Mr. Akaba sir!?”

Declan looked up from his desk as his assistant rushed in, the grey-haired teen narrowed his eyes.

“Is something the matter?”

“Yes sir, we just detected a hugely powerful summoning signal!”

Declan hummed thoughtfully, resting his head on his hands.

_Is it Sora again?_

“Fusion?”

“Not this time Sir, its Xyz”

“Xyz?” Declan echoed.

“Yes, we backtracked to see what other summoning signals were detected in the area at the time and a few minutes earlier a far weaker Xyz summon was detected”

“Where is all this occurring?”

“The warehouse district sir, but it must be inside one of the warehouse as there’s no sign of the duelists”

Declan stands up.

“We don’t know who’s dueling?”

“Well, we checked and saw four of our LID students entering a warehouse, followed by the girl from You Show Duel School Zuzu Boyle and then one of the cloaked figures from the night before”

Declan’s eyes widened a little.

_Intriguing, so our visitors may be Xyz users…good they could then be allies…_

“What do you want us to do sir?”

“…just observe the signals for the time being, after the duel is over, I want you to go investigate that site understood?”

“Yes sir!”

“I’m going to get back to work, if anything else happens call me immediately” Declan sits back down, still in thought.

_If these two strangers really_ are _Xyzians then we’ll know by what’s left behind after that duel._

\-------------

“You summoned a monster with less attack points!” Sylvio stated, slowly finding his voice again “You’re all bark and no bite”

_And even if he_ could _destroy my monster, my_ negate attack _face down will stop him._

“Actually, I have plenty of bite” he holds his hand out “I activate the effect of my Break Sword!”

“By using one overlay unit, I can destroy one card I control to destroy one card you control!”

“Hah, sucks for you Mr. Mystery! My Cannon Dart Blaster can’t be destroyed by card effects!”

“I know, I read its effect” The duelist replies, raising the arm with his duel disk “I wasn’t planning on destroying your monster just yet, Break sword will do that with time. Instead, I’ll destroy my last Shadow Veil to destroy your face down card!”

Shadow Veil raced forward on the urging of Break Sword and ran the face down through as it flipped up. Both bursting into pixels.

“My trap…” Sylvio muttered worriedly.

“As I thought, Negate Attack. Had I been foolish enough to attack it would’ve been useless”

“Y-Your monster still can’t destroy mine”

“Since I used an overlay unity, my Hidden Daggers is now in the graveyard. So I can activate its effect too, since its in the graveyard I can add a Phantom Knights monster to my hand” he holds the card out “My next monster has an effect that allows me to special summon it when I control another Phantom Knights monster like my Break Sword”

Zuzu looked absolutely shocked. All of a sudden, this guy was making Sylvio look really, _really_ worried.

“I special summon, _The Phantom Knights of Dulled Axe!_ ” the new monster appears, blue fire swirling through its chipped silver armour and an axe gripped tightly in its gauntlets “While this monster is face up on my field, all Phantom Knights I control gain 500 attack”

Sylvio took another step back.

_Oh dear…_

“Suddenly Sawatari, my Break Sword has 2500 attack points. 200 more than your Cannon Dart Blaster” he points at Sylvio’s monster “Battle! The Phantom Knights of Break Sword attacks Cannon Dart Blaster!”

Break Sword charges forward, raising its huge sword and swinging downwards on an angle knocking Cannon Dart Blaster backwards before it exploded into pixels. The explosion knocked Sylvio backwards, much to his surprise.

“W-What…?” he stared down at the dust covering his clothes “That attack…that attack was _real_ ”

**_Sylvio Sawatari  
_ ** _LP: 3800_

“Now, The Phantom Knight of Dulled Axe attacks you directly and thanks to its ability you’ll be taking 1500 points of damage!” He announces, but he gives his monster a look.

_Don’t go too hard on him, we don’t know whether he’s an enemy or an ally yet._

The monster strangely seems to acknowledge the unspoken words and charges forward, swinging its axe but only hitting the wall behind Sylvio. Much to the LID student’s relief.

**_Sylvio Sawatari  
_ ** _LP: 2300_

“How are you doing this! Explain! Why are these attacks so real when there’s not ARC system here?!”

The duelist doesn’t answer his question.

“With that, I’ll end my turn”

He nodded to Dulled Axe, who seemed to respond with a small whisper that didn’t really sound like words.

Sylvio gritted his teeth.

“Answer. The. Question!”

“I have no obligation to answer your questions, Sylvio Sawatari. However, I may answer them if you answer mine.”

“Not happening Mr. Mystery”

“Then I suppose we’ll continue to duel then. It’s your turn”

“You’re really getting on my nerves”

The duelist narrowed his eyes behind his goggles, the dark glare still visible even through their tint.

“ _It’s your move_ ”

Sylvio huffed.

“Fine, whatever. You’ll have to explain when I beat you!”

_If you beat me._ The duelist thinks, _but you won’t._

“I draw!” Sylvio glances at his hand “Alright, I activate _Re-Shoot_! I can special summon a Dart Striker monster from graveyard. When that monster leaves the field its banished!”

Zuzu frowns, where was Sylvio going with this?

“I special summon my Zero Dart Striker back from my graveyard! And now I activate its secondary effect, when this monster is special summoned, I can special summon another Dart Striker monster from my graveyard!” Sylvio announces “So return my Stealth Dart Striker!”

_Is he planning to Xyz summon again?_ The duelist wonders.

“Next, Zero Dart Striker’s effect will activate allowing me to increase its level to 5!” Sylvio then holds out the last card in his hand “You think you’re so tough Mr. Mystery!? Try this on for size, the spell card _Risky Xyz!_ ”

_So he is planning to Xyz summon again. I wonder if my words did anything more than irritate him…_

“This card lets me increase the levels of all my monsters by one then Xyz summon with this spell counting as a monster with the required level! However, when that Xyz monster runs out of overlay units its immediately banished” Sylvio explains “Thus, for the Xyz summon of a Rank 6 monster Risky Xyz counts as a Level 6 monster”

_Huh, Risky Xyz indeed._ The duelist thinks _He’s basically riding the duel on this one monster I’ll bet._

“I overlay my three level 6 monsters to build the overlay network!”

Another vortex opened up, no more impressive than Sylvio’s last summon. The three lights shot into the vortex as it swirled around.

“Time to witness my strongest monster, it’s unstoppable power will wipe you right off the face of the earth! **I Xyz Summon!** Rank 6 – _Nuclear Dart Blaster_!”

The deep green monster stood tall and proud, it had a radioactive symbol on its armour and its weapon, while pointed like a lance, could open up and would likely act as some kind of cannon. Three purple lights swirled around it as it stared the duelist’s Break Sword down.

“By using one overlay unit, Nuclear Dart Blaster can destroy one of your monsters! So go! Destroy The Phantom Knights of Dulled Axe!”

One of the purple lights it the tip of the monster’s weapon and exploded into pixels, before it pointed its weapon at Dulled Axe and blasted it. The monster burst into pixels, causing Break Sword’s attack to return to 2000.

“And now, your Break Sword is powerless to stop my next attack! Go! Nuclear Dart Striker, attack Break Sword!”

Break Sword was very quickly run through, bursting into nothing.

**_Unknown:  
_ ** _LP: 3500_

“By destroying Break Sword you activated its special ability, thank you” The duelist says “When this monster is destroyed I can special summon from my graveyard two ‘Phantom Knights’ monsters with the same level and increase those levels by 1”

“Wonderful, _more_ knights”

“Return to me, The Phantom Knights of Hidden Daggers and The Phantom Knights of Dulled Axe”

Both level 3 monsters had their levels increased to 4. The duelist went quiet, hearing the familiar growl of his strongest monster.

_You want to battle, don’t you?_ He stares Sylvio down.

“I end my turn for now, but it’ll be over soon enough.”

The duelist draws and stares at his new card, hearing another growl.

_I know, I know. But we don’t want to hurt him if he’s just an innocent duelist._

“Go on Mr. Mystery, make your move!” Sylvio says irritably “Or are you scared? Run out of moves since I destroyed your ace monster?”

“…That’s not my ace monster Sawatari”

Silence.

_It…_ isn’t _?_ Sylvio thought worriedly _but if that’s the case, what else does he have up his sleeve…what rank is it?_

He frowns realising the levels of the monsters on the duelist’s field.

“H-Have you been holding back!?” he asked indignantly.

“Perhaps” He says simply “Would you like me to stop?”

“Yes! It’s a complete insult to my skills!”

The duelist looks down for a moment, another growl, this one more pleading then before.

_Alright…but hold back a little okay bud?_ He asks _We need to limit how much damage we do._

He waited before he heard his monster’s agreement and then he smiled behind his mask.

_Then, let’s get started._

“As you wish Sawatari” First he places the card he just drew face down, then he holds his hand out as a new vortex opens up, this one gave off a far more powerful air and the purple energy in the centre had sparks of violet electricity around it “I overlay my Level 4 Dulled Axe and Hidden Daggers!”

The two monsters flew into the vortex as it grew stronger, whipping up an intense wind and blowing debris from previous attacks all over the warehouse. Zuzu shivered, the powerful aura coming from that vortex was clear, whatever was coming…was something Sylvio would regret asking for.

“Cloaked in shadows” the duelist begins “and relentless in its objectives! I call upon the most dangerous of dragons! **I Xyz Summon!** ”

The purple light shot straight up, lighting sparking around it as the duelist stood proudly. The first thing that cut through the light was two deep black wings, with purple orbs on them. Then its tail appeared, soon followed by its entire body stretching out and making the light explode.

Its gleaming yellow eyes glared Sylvio down, causing the teen to back up even more nearly touching the wall.

“ _This_ Sawatari, is my strongest monster, my _Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon_!”

The Dragon responded to its name with a mighty roar, the lightning around it whipping up more debris, some of which went flying towards Zuzu. The duelist noticed this and again saw his friend Lulu in Zuzu’s place, instinctively rushing forward to protect her.

The debris hit his goggles, leaving one of the lenses severely damaged. He pulled away, blinking as he pulled himself back to reality.

“Are you alright?”

Zuzu nodded in surprise.

“Y-Yeah, thanks”

The duelist grabbed his goggles and turned, pulling them up to rest on his head.

_Dark Rebellion, you nearly hurt an innocent. I know you’re excited to battle again but please contain yourself._

The dragon snorted in irritation but nodded, the duelist then turned his focus on Sylvio.

\--------------------------

Yuya froze mid turn. They were playing a game of snakes and ladders and it was his turn, but he felt something really strange…familiar but…weird too and this faint burning in his chest, not enough to hurt, just a little confusing.

“Yuya?” Sora asked “What’s wrong? Take your turn”

Yuya shook his head a little.

“Sorry…I feel kinda…funny…” he paused, reaching into his deck pocket and pulling out his Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon that was giving off a faint white glow “What in the…?”

Gong leaned over to look at the monster.

“Gong didn’t know cards glowed like that”

“They don’t” Tate replies “At least, most of them don’t…”

“Yuya’s cards tend to be a bit unique if creating Pendulum Summoning proves anything” Ally adds.

Yuya frowned, staring at his monster in confusion. Odd-Eyes felt all riled up, like it was excited about something.

“What’s up with you?” he asked in confusion.

He heard a faint sound that was definitely one of the noises that Odd-Eyes would make but it wasn’t answering Yuya’s question.

“What’s got you so excited bud?”

Sora groaned, sitting down. There Yuya went again, talking with his monsters and his other friends weren’t acting like it was particularly strange.

_They must be used to it…_ he glanced at the faintly glowing card and frowned _I’ve never seen a card do that before…what’s going on?_

Yuya bit his lip, curiously turning a bit and noting that the closer he was pointing to the exit of You Show the brighter the glow began to get. He hummed thoughtfully.

_Odd-Eyes…you want me to go, somewhere don’t you?_

A faint growl echoed in his mind and he sighed.

_Alright, fine. Sure._

He looked back at the others and stands up.

“Hey guys, go on and continue without me, I’m getting worried about Zuzu so I’m gonna go find her okay?”

Before anyone could argue he ran straight out of the building, following the direct the glow was brightest in. Wherever Odd-Eyes was leading him Yuya really hoped it wasn’t dangerous.

\-----------------

Sylvio pointed at the dragon.

“I activate Nuclear Dart Blaster’s effect, removing one overlay unit to destroy your monster!”

“I activate the quick play spell I laid down at the start of my turn! _Phantom Knights’ Impression_! I can target one monster I control and increase its attack by 1000 until the end of this turn and that monster can’t be destroy by card effects this turn.”

Sylvio gritted his teeth as Dark Rebellion’s attack points rose to 3500.

“Even so, you don’t have enough attack points to beat me this turn and you _know_ I’ll come back and wipe the floor with you next turn!” Sylvio smirked “Plus, your dragon’s effect won’t work on Xyz monsters! It needs a monster with a level! You call yourself an Xyz user when you forgot that simple fact!? Pathetic!”

The duelist is quiet for a moment.

“I didn’t forget. I use the secondary effect of Phantom Knights Impression in my graveyard! By banishing it I can target one Xyz monster on the field and treat that monster’s rank as a level until the end of the turn!”

Sylvio’s eyes widen.

“And of course, I’m targeting your Nuclear Dart Blaster, meaning its now treated as a Level 6 monster” He raises his hand “Now, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon’s special ability activates! By using one overlay unit, I can target your level 5 or above monster and the attack points of that monster are cut in half and then my Dark Rebellion gains those attack points!”

Lightning flares around Dark Rebellion’s wings.

“Go! **Treason Discharge!** ”

The lightning surrounds Nuclear Dart Blaster, restraining it. Dark Rebellion lets out a roar as it drains the monster’s power, raising its attack points from 3500 to 4750 and dropping Nuclear Dart Blaster’s attack from 2500 to 1250.

Dark Rebellion growled a bit, looking at the duelist.

_No. One use is more than enough, hold on okay?_

“So Sawatari, as you are clearly at the disadvantage, I request that you answer my questions. Now.” He pulls something out of his pocket and holds it out “This pin, I’ve seen it on lots of people in this city. This indicates the Leo Institute of Dueling correct?”

“Yes, what of it!?” Sylvio huffs, wanting this duel to just be over already.

The duelist takes a step forward, his dragon’s eyes glinting dangerously as a warning.

“What affiliation do you have with Duel Academy?”

Sylvio blinked in confusion.

“What…?”

“ _Answer me!_ What does the Leo Duel School have to do with Duel Academy?!”

“I don’t know!” Sylvio responds “Look, those pins get handed out to everyone who enrols in the Leo Institute, whatever this Duel Academy is and whatever relationship it has to Leo I don’t know a thing about it”

The duelist scanned Sylvio’s expression before putting the pin away and stepping back.

“I see. Then you are not my enemy”

An irritated growl came from Dark Rebellion, he looked towards his duelist as if asking if they wouldn’t be dueling anymore.

The duelist simply shook his head.

_There’s no longer any need, he’s not an enemy and I’ve said to him all I wanted to say._

“If you intend to walk away! I refuse to allow you!” Sylvio says “I want this duel finished Mr. Mystery! Don’t you leave!”

He glances back, sighs and turns back to face Sylvio.

“Are you certain you want me to finish this?”

“Don’t act so sure about your victory! You may find I have a few surprises up my sleeves!”

The duelist sighs.

_This guy has no poker face. Outright telling me he has something planned, meaning I’ll be on alert…_

“Fine. Battle!” He holds his hand out “Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon now attacks Nuclear Dart Blaster!”

The dragon reared up, letting out a powerful roar as its mandibles began to glow. Then it took off, charging right towards Nuclear Dart Blaster.

“Go! **Mauling Mandible Charge!** ”

The dragon ran the monster through, it began to glow about to burst into pixels. Sylvio smirked and quickly shouted:

“Nuclear Dart Blaster’s effect activates! When this card is destroyed by battle, I destroy whatever monster destroyed it and you’ll take that monster’s current attack as Damage! That’s over 4000 wiping out the rest of your life points!” He says proudly “Maybe I can’t win, but I can draw the match!”

The duelist goes silent then turns his back, snapping his fingers.

Instantly a portal opens up and a lance surrounded by a ghostly aura appears, Sylvio instantly looks worried.

“When you activate a card effect that would deal me damage, I can banish my trap card _Phantom Knights’ Lance_ from the graveyard and negate that effect!”

Sylvio’s gasps as the Lance rears up about to charge through the monster and straight towards him.

“W-Wait what is that thing about to do?!”

The duelist looked back; it was unclear what kind of look he was giving Sylvio because of the shadow over his eyes but Sylvio was certain it wasn’t a friendly one.

“You wanted me to end the duel. I’m ending it”

The lance rushed through Nuclear Dart Blaster and it exploded into pixels then it struck part of Sylvio’s jacket, slamming him straight into the wall and leaving him pinned there. His whole body was shaking.

_T-There’s no w-way! T-There’s n-no ARC System h-here! T-This sh-shouldn’t be able to t-touch me…!_

**_Sylvio Sawatari  
_ ** _LP: 0_

**_Winner: Unknown_ **

The remaining cards vanished from the field, letting Sylvio dropped to the ground staring in shock at the hole in his jacket. His friends rushed over in concern.

“S-Sylvio!” Yamabe gasped “Are you okay?”

“I…” The teen doesn’t respond, too startled by how real the duel had been.

The dark duelist stared him down.

“I hope you take this loss more honourably than you likely took your loss to Zuzu’s friend.” He turns away and looks at Zuzu “Are you alright? Dark Rebellion’s attack didn’t hurt you did it?”

“N-No, I’m fine…” she stared at him “H-How…in the world…?”

“Hey you!” Kakimoto shouted, standing and walking over to the duelist “You hurt Sylvio!”

The duelist sighs and glances back, aside from being a bit shaken like Zuzu and the hole in his jacket, Sylvio was barely scratched.

“Aside from his pride, I doubt he’s injured” he replied.

“Shut up!”

He stares at Kakimoto and hums a little.

“You have a great respect for him, why that is I don’t know, but it’s good to see that you are a loyal comrade.” He looks at Sylvio “You should treat your allies better; you don’t deserve their respect but you seem to have it anyway”

Kakimoto – irritated with all this guy’s talk – charged forward attempting to punch him. The duelist reacted lightning fast, dodging to the left and grabbing the teen’s arm before turning him around and – as gently as possible – pinned him against the floor.

“Don’t even bother. You aren’t skilled enough to land a hit on me, I assure you” he says simply “Besides that, a duelist settles things with his deck, if you have an issue with me tell me through your cards, not your fists”

Zuzu blinked in surprise, that sounded…like….

_“I don’t…I’m a duelist, we settle things with our decks. If you don’t have anything to do Mr. Hotshot President…we could settle this…”_

“Yuya…” she whispered.

\-----------------------

As Yuya was running he noticed Odd-Eyes’ glow fade away. He froze and stared at it.

“Come on! Not now Odd-Eyes!”

The faint growl just made Yuya sigh.

“Right, you can’t help it can you?”

Yuya groaned, putting Odd-Eyes away and running a hand through his hair staring into the direction Odd-Eyes had been leading him.

“Alright…well, let’s see…”

It seemed like Odd-Eyes was leading him towards the Warehouse section of Paradise city, but he wasn’t sure if that was exactly where the dragon wanted him…oh well, it was the best he had.

_I should just go back to You Show…_ he thought for a moment… _but I do wonder what’s making Odd-Eyes act weird…_

With reknewed curiosity Yuya headed toward the warehouses.

\----------------------

“I recommend you take Sawatari and leave, our business here is concluded” The duelist releases Kakimoto and stands up dusting himself off then pulling at his mask a little, it’d come loose a little in the battle and honestly, he could use some real fresh air.

Sylvio and his friends headed towards the exit, Sylvio still staring at the duelist in confusion before his eyes widened when the mask was removed.

The duelist’s facial features were eerily familiar, though his eyes were narrowed slightly more and were grey…when looking at him closely he could almost pass for Yuya Sakaki…

“What?” The duelist asked, raising an eyebrow at Sylvio.

The teen shakes his head and mutters ‘nothing’ under his breath, hell when he thought about it now this guy’s voice was similar to Yuya’s too, maybe lower? With a bit more edge? He grits his teeth, was this really Yuya he’d lost to? Yuya in a fancy dress costume?! Maybe…he wasn’t sure.

The four boy’s left leaving the duelist and Zuzu alone.

“Yuya, is that you?” Zuzu asks, staring at him closely.

The duelist frowned.

_Yuya? Isn’t that her friend?_

“What do you mean?”

“Y-You just…you look a lot like Yuya!”

_Just like she looks like Lulu…and that other freak who looks kind of like me…one look a like is strange enough but three? This is far more than a coincidence…_

“Well, I’m not”

“Sorry…” she sighed “Thank you, for dealing with Sylvio”

“No need to thank me Zuzu” he replied calmly, putting his mask back on “I had my own reasons for getting involved in your fight. It just so happens helping you lined up with my goals.”

She smiles a little.

“Well, still thanks. I appreciat-” she was cut off by footsteps “Huh? Someone’s coming?”

The duelist closes his eyes and listens.

“Sounds as if they’re in a rush, looking for something”

“You can tell that!?” she asked in shock, turning back to face him.

“I’ve obtained certain skills with practi-”

He frowned as her bracelet began to flash a bright pink, before it shone brightly. Zuzu gasped, covering her eyes a little.

“What’s going on!?”

He covers his own eyes, trying to process what was happening.

When Zuzu next opened her eyes, the Mysterious Duelist was completely gone and the light stopped, the only evidence he had been there at all was in the damage to the surrounding area from his duel. The next moment the footsteps entered the warehouse.

“Zuzu?!”

Zuzu turned, seeing Yuya standing there looking confused.

“Yuya!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Its…a long story…what are _you_ doing here?”

“Uh…also a bit of a story” Yuya chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck “Maybe we can share stories on the way back? Sora’s been freaking out about not getting his ice cream yet!”

Zuzu gasped.

“Oh! I haven’t gotten it yet!” she said quickly “We’ll have to stop by the store!”

“Well let’s get going!”

“Right!”

Zuzu followed Yuya out of the warehouse her thoughts still on the grey eyed duelist.

_Why does he look so much like Yuya?_

Meanwhile Yuya’s thoughts were on something else, he pulled out Odd-Eyes as they walked staring at him.

_Were you leading me to Zuzu? Or was something else here that isn’t anymore?_

His dragon gave him no response…which was odd, usually Odd-Eyes was one of his more vocal monsters…

\-------------------------

The dark duelist blinked, looking around in confusion. Where was he? It was a rooftop in the middle of the city!? When did he get here, last he remembered he was talking to the Lulu look a like, Zuzu…

“Hey, you okay dude?”

He looked up and saw his friend, standing there looking at him in confusion.

“What the…”

“Here” he offered a hand down for his friend, helping the smaller boy up “What the heck just happened? I was on my way to our meet up spot and suddenly this pink glow was here and poof, here you are!”

“…I…don’t fully know yet…” He commented, he held his head in confusion “I…I’ll explain once I’ve got an explanation. Until then…where _were you_!? You were supposed to meet me at _sunrise_! Not _sunset_!”

“I…got distracted” his friend replied “…reconnaissance and all”

The dark duelist frowned at his comrade. That sounded extremely suspicious but for the time being he wouldn’t question it.

“Do you have the rations Saya packed us?” he asked, noticing how tired and hungry he felt “I think I really…need a rest…”

“…you’re looking kind of pale…come on, lets get you somewhere to rest”

\--------------------

“Sir…”

“Yes?” Declan asked, seeing the concerned look on his assistant’s face.

“So, we kept observing Xyz summoning energy as you requested. There was a more powerful Xyz summon that occurred, but the duel must have ended as no more summoning signals were detected in that area” the assistant explained “Also as you asked, I’ve sent someone to investigate the warehouse where the duel took place”

“Good” Declan says, “What else did you come to tell me?’

The Assistant hums nervously, then reaches into his pocket. Declan’s eyes narrow, this doesn’t feel good to him.

“Well, there was another powerful Xyz summon that happened elsewhere in the city around the time of the duel” he muttered “It immediately followed up a fairly average Fusion summon”

“So, a standard Duelist correct?”

“Yes”

“Versing one of our _visitors_ I imagine…”

“Yes sir” the assistant replied “I tried to watch the duel, accessing the camera systems from where the summoning signals were taking place but the cameras had been taken out”

“Taken out?”

_Oh dear…_ Declan frowned _I don’t like where this is going._

“…Moments ago we received this…and its something you may want to see…” he holds out what looks to be a Duel Monsters card…but instead of a spell, trap or monster image it looked to be a mostly blank card…but with a person in it…in fact a person who looked to be a teenager with the LID pin.

“…one of the students from our Fusion course…”

“Someone may be trying to send us a message…”

“Yes…and I suspect they won’t stop till their message gets across…” Declan hums thoughtfully “…track these Xyz signals, I want to hope our visitors are allies but we should keep an eye on them and up the security around LID, I get a bad feeling about all of this.”

“Yes sir!”

Declan frowns, turning to his computer and noticing a message.

_Ah, mother you have absolutely the worst timing…_ he sighs _it has to be_ now _of all times?_

“Seems like mother is going to be home tomorrow” Declan mutters “I should go tell Riley…”

“Oh, Madame Chairwoman will be back soon? I’ll make sure the other staff members know for you Mr. President; I’ll ensure everyone is on schedule”

“Yes, please do.” He adjusts his glasses “and for everyone’s sake if any staff see my mother before I do, make sure any knowledge of our visitors and the attack is kept from her. I’ll explain it myself”

“Understood sir”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh Yuto…*sighs* I am so glad to finally get to write him! He’s just so cool lol XD I’m going to have SO much fun with him and Shay XD And yes, I named this chapter the same as the episode in the Japanese version because that title ROCKS. 
> 
> And yeah, I gave Sylvio Xyz Monsters. I thought "he goes to LID right? So why doesn't he seem to use any special summoning methods before Pendulum?"
> 
> Thus I gave him one, I considered giving him Ritual but Xyz meant that his loss to Yuto would leave more of an impact. Because character development is important lol XD
> 
> Custom Cards below!  
> \-----------  
> Unknown (Yuto):  
> The Phantom Knights of Hidden Daggers [Level 3 – Dark – ATK: 300/DEF: 1000 – Warrior/Effect: : If this card was normal summoned this turn and is used for the Xyz summon of a “The Phantom Knights” monster this card can count as two monsters. If this card is in your graveyard, you can add 1 “The Phantom Knights” monster to your hand.]
> 
> The Phantom Knights of Dulled Axe [Level 3 – Dark – ATK: 1000/DEF: 1400 – Warrior/Effect: If you control a “The Phantom Knights” monster, you may special summon this monster. While this card is face up on the field all “The Phantom Knights” monsters you control gain 500 attack.]
> 
> Phantom Knights’ Impression [Spell – Quick-Play: Target 1 monster you control and increase its attack points by 1000 until the end of this turn. That monster you control can’t be destroyed by card effects this turn. You can banish this card from the graveyard and select 1 Xyz monster on the field, that monster’s rank can now be counted as a level until the end of this turn]
> 
> Phantom Knights’ Lance [Trap – Counter - When a “The Phantom Knights” monster you control would be destroyed by battle negate that destruction and halve the damage you take. If your opponent activates a card effect that would deal you damage while this card is in the graveyard, banish this card and negate that effect]  
> \------------  
> Sylvio Sawatari:  
> Zero Dart Striker [Level 4 – Dark – ATK: 1500/DEF: 1500 – Warrior/Effect: Once per turn, while this card is face up on the field with another ‘Dart Striker’ monster, you can name a level between 1 and 6 and make this card’s level that number. When this card is Special summoned you can special summon another ‘Dart Striker’ from your graveyard.]
> 
> Master Dart Striker [Level 5 – Dark – ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000 – Warrior/Effect: If you control more than one Warrior type monster you can special summon this card from your hand. If you do so, you cannot special summon any other monsters this turn except for Warrior-type monsters.]
> 
> Target Acquired [Spell - Destroy as many spells/traps on the field up to the number of ‘Dart Striker’ monsters you control]
> 
> Cannon Dart Blaster [Rank 5 – Dark – ATK: 2300/DEF: 2000 – Warrior/Xyz/Effect: 3 level 5 “Dart Striker” monsters. Detach 1 Xyz Material and destroy 1 face-down on your opponent’s field. This card cannot be destroyed by card effects.]
> 
> Re-Shoot [Spell - Special summon 1 ‘Dart Striker’ from your graveyard, this monster is banished when it leaves the field]
> 
> Risky Xyz [Spell – Increase the levels of all monsters on your field by 1 then Xyz summon counting this card as a required Xyz Material with the required level. Any monster summoned through this effect is banish if it runs out of Xyz Materials]
> 
> Nuclear Dart Blaster [Rank 6 – Dark – ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000 – Warrior/Xyz/Effect: 3 level 6 monsters. Once per turn, you can detach 1 Xyz Material and destroy one of your opponent’s monsters. When this card is destroyed by battle, destroy the monster that destroyed it and deal your opponent half that monster’s current attack points as damage.]


	8. Scale 8 - You Show invaded!?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of Sylvio's duel with one of Paradise City's Xyz guests and learning the supposed culprit, Henrietta Akaba decides to take matters into her own hands, initiating a challenge against You Show. The Dark Duelist decides to observe the duels in secret to ensure that his duel with Sylvio doesn't cause too many problems for his apparent look-alike Yuya Sakaki.

“Security is tighter than usual” Henrietta Akaba comments as she enters the LID building.

The assistant next to her just sighs.

“President Akaba insisted.”

“And _why_ did my son insist on tighter security?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

The assistant gulped and looked away. Well, the actual reason was due to those strange visitors.

“He said he’ll explain it to you himself; I am forbidden from telling you Madame Chairwoman”

“Fine. I hope Declan has a good reason for keeping this such a secret…” she sighed, as they walked through the building, she passed by one of the duel arenas and saw a duel come to its completion.

She stopped noticing the blue hooded child turning around as the duel ended. Her eyes lit up a little.

“Riley!”

The child – Riley – spotted her and instantly hugged what appeared to be a small brown bear tight.

“Hi…”

“I see you won!” Henrietta smiled “How quickly this time?”

“Three turns” Riley whispers.

“Just as amazing as always Riley, keep that up”

She turned and walked away, the smile never leaving her face. Her little Riley was getting to be quite the force to be reckoned with and would be quite the advantage with what may be coming their way.

As she reached the office the assistant stepped aside. Henrietta went inside, shutting the door behind her before coming face to face with her son.

“Ah Declan, its good to see you again” she folds her arms “I hope all the secrecy is necessary”

“It is mother, I assure you” he gestures for her to sit down then picks up a tablet, pressing a few buttons before a projection of the Sledgehammer duel appears “Mother, do you recall who this is?”

He quickly zooms in on Yuya, waiting patiently for his mother’s answer. Henrietta frowned.

“he looks familiar”

“Yusho Sakaki’s son”

“Yuya?” She blinked in surprised then nodded slowly “He’s grown”

“…yes and now seems to be the centre of some odd happenings in Paradise City” Declan tapped the tablet a few more times and the projection started playing the video of Yuya’s Pendulum summon.

“What’s this…?”

“This is a duel between Yuya and the Sledgehammer. During this duel…Yuya pioneered a new summoning method, Pendulum and proceeded to defeat the Sledgehammer”

Henrietta’s eyes widened, a new summoning method!? Pioneered by a 14-year-old?! _And he won?!_

“You’re joking”

“Hardly” Declan replies “It just…happened, the duel disk didn’t reject the summon and several of Yuya’s cards transformed into ‘Pendulum’ cards. Beyond that, I duelled him just a couple days ago. During this duel, he used a card that – after checking – doesn’t exist, Pendulum Call.”

“…That isn’t possible!” Henrietta shouted, standing up “Cards don’t just appear out of thin air!”

“But in Yuya’s case they apparently do. Pendulum summoning apparently allows for one to summon multiple monsters at once, even high-level ones without tributing. We’ve analysed enough data about it that we should be able to replicate it. But Yuya is the primary target of our investigation at the moment”

He pulls up Yuya’s Duelist profile.

“He’s still fairly average as a duelist, though he certainly has improved his win rate is still less than 60% and he’s still in the Youth Division so…there’s nothing…particularly remarkable about him as a duelist. Just that he’s Yusho’s son…we’re still trying to work out how this all started” he sighs adjusting his glasses “but that’s difficult, as even Yuya seems to be learning how Pendulum works, he had no idea initially”

“Well, when the Sakaki’s are involved I can’t be too surprised”

Declan nodded, he debated bringing up that Yuya seemed to still believe the monsters were alive. Something that he was certain meant more than it initially appeared but the look on his mother’s face indicated perhaps he should keep that bit of information to himself for now at least.

Instead…

“There’s more” he switches to some photos taken of the aftermath of Sylvio and the dark duellist’s duel “We have guests”

“Guests…?” Henrietta looked concerned “Don’t tell me…”

“No. Don’t worry, they appear to be Xyz users…one I suspect has been attacking our Fusion Course students”

“What…!?”

Declan sighs, walking up to his desk and pulling out a card before handing it to his mother, the card with the image of a student. Henrietta stared at it in horror.

“That’s horrible…”

“I know, the other…well, he certainly duelled a student. Sylvio Sawatari. But Sylvio was left relatively unharmed, aside from his ego from the loss he took” he rolls his eyes slightly “though Furio has… _insisted_ he be in the hospital and I didn’t want to cause a scene so I’m…humouring his request”

“I see…”

“We got some reports back early this morning, I had asked for the stories of his friends regarding the duel. To get an idea for what happened. Ootomo, Kakimoto and Yamabe all agree on several things” he begins “One: This duelist spoke strangely, such as describing Sylvio as a decorative blade that’s useless in battle or speaking of Sylvio’s Xyz summoning in a way that indicates he finds it disappointing…”

“Someone who has clearly seen a lot of combat…”

“Two: They all agree that the duel was more real than it should have been, it took place without an ARC System Action field, yet…at least when the duelist attacked, his moves felt real. His Xyz summon gave off wind, his monsters dealt _real_ damage”

“…my…” Henrietta muttered “to do so without an Action field would take someone with…immense power”

“Precisely” Declan adjusts his glasses “Three: The duellist’s name was hidden from them, only being displayed as ‘Unknown’ so he knows how to hack the Identification of the Duel Disks…on that note, his duel disk is entirely different too. This proving my point, they aren’t from here”

Henrietta leans back slightly, narrowing her eyes.

“…I see…how do we know if these duelists are allies or enemies then…?”

“Well, the _reason_ for his duel may be proof enough” Declan replies “You see, that’s the _fourth_ thing they all agreed upon, he was duelling in order to protect another duelist from a different school who initially challenged Sylvio”

“Oh?” she tilts her head thoughtfully “who?”

“Miss Zuzu Boyle of the You Show Duel School” Declan looked thoughtful for a moment “I believe that inciting incident for this challenge was Sylvio’s duel against Yuya”

“And you think that him stepping in to duel Sylvio proves he has good intentions…?”

“I think it’s certainly good to consider. Another fact is that the attack by his comrade was only on a student from the Fusion Course. Meaning he has no bad blood with the others.”

“You said he was duelling in place of Zuzu Boyle…?” Henrietta chuckled “Well, we need to find out what _she_ saw of this incident don’t we? Sylvio and his three friends are likely to come up with some story to make Sylvio’s defeat look less miserable”

“That’s true.” Declan replied “I certainly considered it. But at the very least, they appeared too shaken up to be lying. This Xyzian clearly caught them off guard”

“Still, hearing _every_ view would be valuable”

“Mother what exactly are you planning?”

Henrietta smirked. Standing up and dusting herself off.

“Do we know anything else regarding the duelist who attacked them…?” she had noticed that her son was keeping some details from her.

Declan sighed, running a hand through his hair. He had expected this.

“Well, Ootomo and Yamabe seemed insistent that the attacker was Yuya Sakaki”

“What?”

“That’s what they say, Sylvio and Kakimoto however don’t entirely agree with that. They both said that the duelist removed his mask and goggles and apparently bared a striking resemblance but they weren’t sure it was him” Declan explained “Kakimoto in fact, was fairly certain it was some look alike.”

“Look alike…?” Henrietta’s grin grew “The thing is, if Miss Boyle was definitely there and two of our other four witnesses believe Yuya was, this could be a valuable opportunity”

She started walking towards the doors. Declan put the tablet down, looking mildly irritated.

“Mother, what are you going to do…?”

“Yuya appears to be the centre of a lot of this, he’s how we’ll find the answers. Starting with those Pendulum cards.” She glances back at him “I believe that the Leo Institute should make another acquisition”

Declan’s eyes widened slightly.

“Mother, you do realise that Skip Boyle will never allow that to happen to Yusho Sakaki’s duel school? And let’s not forget Yuya Sakaki himself.”

“You said it yourself Declan, he’s barely an average duelist with a win rate under 60%. I highly doubt he’ll be much trouble”

With that she walks out. Declan groans a little.

_She has no idea what she’s getting herself into…I’d better make sure she doesn’t cause too much trouble…and stop her if she does._

\-----------------------------------------------------

Sora walked right into the duel school, sucking on a fresh lollipop as he was greeted by Ally, Tate and Frederick.

“Sora!” Ally smiled “Come on, quick!”

Sora yelped as the boys grabbed him and dragged him along, following Ally.

“Uhm, good morning to you too?” Sora muttered; his words muffled by the lollipop.

Tate smiled.

“you’re just in time, Yuya’s about to close the curtains on his duel with Zuzu!”

Sora blinked as he stopped in front of the observation window, a quick glance at the duel stats and it was clear Yuya was in fact winning…actually he was _way_ in the lead. That was a little odd, the few duels he’d seen between Zuzu and Yuya had left them being fairly evenly matched.

“Okay! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Attack Zuzu directly! **_Spiral Flame Strike!_** ”

Sora watched Zuzu’s life points drop to zero and her barely react.

_She’s definitely not herself today…_

As she and Yuya came back in, he could see Yuya was equally concerned.

“What’s up Zuzu? You’re way too predictable today”

Zuzu chuckled awkwardly.

“I didn’t sleep well last night is all, don’t worry Yuya”

Yuya frowned as she walked ahead, saying ‘don’t worry’ only made him worry more. Sora walked over to him.

“Anything happen to her on the trip to get ice cream yesterday?” he asked “She’s been acting weird since then”

“Yeah…well, she says she ran into Sylvio and was _going_ to duel him”

“Going to?” Sora asked.

“Apparently some other guy she’d never seen before took over before she could and wiped the floor with Sylvio” Yuya explained “Even after Sylvio Xyz summoned he still didn’t stand a chance”

Sora’s expression noticeably darkens.

“Sylvio can _Xyz_ summon?”

“According to Zuzu” Yuya replied “It makes sense though; most LID students can do _some_ summoning method so Sylvio being part of the Xyz course doesn’t surprise me.”

“And he still lost?”

“Yeah, that’s all Zuzu told me though” he noticed that she was staring intently at her duel disk, with some kind of search tab up.

_What could she be searching up…? Actually, now that I think about it…she only took her head out of her duel disk to actually duel me…_

He walks over and sits down on the couch next to her. She doesn’t even notice. He leans closer to peer over her shoulder at the search bar. Apparently, she had several tabs up, Yuya raised an eyebrow. She’d end up crashing her duel disk doing that.

“What are you researching Zuzu?”

She yelps in surprise fumbling with her duel disk so she doesn’t drop it. She holds it close to her chest and looks at Yuya wide-eyed as she searched for an explanation.

“Oh, uhm…just…I was curious about Xyz summoning…” she muttered.

Sora instantly glanced over, silently listening in on their conversation.

“Because of Sylvio?” Yuya asked.

Zuzu looked away slightly but nodded, a little unconvincingly.

“I figure…if he can Xyz summon then…well, I should check for you. He’ll probably challenge you and I can imagine you won’t say no forever…”

“I mean, I appreciate it but you don’t have to do that”

Zuzu rests her duel disk on her lap, smiling weakly.

“I know, but...I wanna make sure you’re not at some kind of disadvantage again. That’s just unfair you know?”

Yuya nods, but glances at one of the other tabs.

“What about that?” he points at it but doesn’t tap it “Why are you researching how the ARC System works?”

“I was just… _curious_ ”

“Zuzu you’re acting really weird you know?”

“I’m fine Yuya!” she insists, standing up and turning her duel disk off “I just got curious about things”

“About _what_ things?”

“Like, I dunno, if its possible for duels to feel real without an ARC system…” she whispers.

Yuya blinked in surprise.

“As far as I’m aware, no” his eyes light up slightly “That sounds kinda awesome though!”

Sora’s eyes narrowed.

 _Xyz Summoning? If duels can be real without ARC systems?_ He echoed internally _this wasn’t because of Sylvio…so who inspired that thought process…?_

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

In the hospital the sliding door to Sylvio’s room swung open. Kakimoto rushed in, looking at Sylvio in concern.

“You okay? I heard your dad put you in the hospital, but I didn’t want to believe it!” he said quickly “You aren’t too hurt are you?”

Sylvio sighed, glancing at his father who was loudly yelling his case through a megaphone to any in Paradise city who were willing to listen (or unfortunate enough not to have headphones to block him out).

“I’m fine Kakimoto, nothing really hurt”

_Aside from my pride…_

“Then why are you…?”

“Because my father over there probably thinks it’ll get him sympathy votes…” Sylvio muttered, resting his head on his hand.

Sure, he would – at any and every opportunity – lord his father’s status over everyone. But it sure got annoying, Furio Sawatari was often too busy with his campaigning to care much about what Sylvio did.

“Oh…” Kakimoto sat down in a chair next to Sylvio’s bed “Yamabe and Ootomo should be here soonish, I told them on the way here”

“Wonderful… _more_ noise”

Kakimoto flinched, looking away. Sylvio gave him a sideways glance then sighed a little, remembering that strange duelist’s words.

_“You should treat your allies better; you don’t deserve their respect but you seem to have it anyway”_

“Still, I appreciate the concern Kakimoto”

His friend’s eyes lit up instantly, a faint smile crossed Sylvio’s lips at that.

“I promise Sylvio, we’ll be as quiet as possible!” Kakimoto insists.

“You’d better be!” Sylvio replies harshly, but the smile doesn’t fade.

Kakimoto glanced over at Furio before looking back at Sylvio.

“What’s your dad on about exactly?”

“Something about wanting Sakaki arrested or something for my attack…”

“So, he thinks Yuya did it too?” Kakimoto asks “Yamabe and Ootomo seem to think so…”

“What about you?”

“Huh?”

“I asked for your opinion because I’m not sure yet, do _you_ think it was Yuya Sakaki?”

Kakimoto frowned, where was this coming from? Sylvio hardly _ever_ asked _anyone_ for their opinions.

“Honestly, I don’t think so. There was…something about that guy…he might look a bit like Yuya but I really think he’s something else entirely”

Sylvio hummed in thought then nodded.

“I agree…but not much we can do to change my father’s mind” he mutters.

This dark duelist, he was so…strange. It was obvious he was no older than Sylvio or Yuya in looks and Sylvio was certain his appearance reflected his age fairly accurately, yet he spoke with confidence and his very presence demanded respect, or at the very least demanded caution…

His monster’s chants, one speaking of fallen comrades and the other of darkness and shadows…

Where would such dark things come from…? They weren’t just chants made up to sound cool, Sylvio could hear it in the dark duelist’s voice…there was sadness and a lot of anger in those words.

_Dark Duelist?_

When had Mr. Mystery turned into that…? It fit…since, much as Sylvio detested it, he had to admit that this guy was a threat and not a duelist to be taken lightly…

“Hello?”

Sylvio flinched at the familiar voice, turning his head slightly…

“M-Madame Chairwoman!?” he gasped “What are you doing here…!?”

“To check on my student of course” she replied, walking in with a bodyguard behind her. She offered Sylvio a bouquet of flowers then looked at Furio “Your father must be so concerned for you”

“Yes, I imagine…” he muttered, sharing an irritated and confused look with Kakimoto “He won’t stop shouting about making Yuya Sakaki pay”

“Ah, yes. Don’t be concerned about that, I’ll be handling Sakaki”

Kakimoto immediately spoke up.

“Madame Chairwoman, I really don’t think Yuya did this. I already told Declan Akaba that...”

“But what is really the likelihood that it was a look alike as you say Kakimoto?” Henrietta asked “I assure you; it was probably Yuya”

Sylvio sighed and shook his head at Kakimoto. Basically just saying, ‘don’t bother arguing’.

Henrietta walked over and tapped Furio on the shoulder.

“Mr. Sawatari, if we could talk for a moment…?”

\-----------------------------------------------------

The dark clad teen’s eyes slowly opened, he was being shaken by his taller friend. Clearly it was time to get up.

“…oh, sorry I guess I slept in” he muttered, looking at the clearly late morning sky through a window.

“I’m surprised you slept at all after what happened yesterday” his friend looked around the warehouse they were in.

It was the same one that the younger one had duelled against Sylvio in yesterday and was still a mess because of it. They’d gone back after the LID investigators had left because they needed _somewhere_ to stay and they suspected, or hoped at least, that the investigators would now leave this warehouse alone.

“I don’t know why either, I guess I just feel safe in this city”

“Well, don’t get too complacent”

“I know”

His friend pushed open the warehouse doors a little and peered outside before looking back and pulling his dark tinted glasses down over his yellow eyes. Then he pulled the red scarf he wore up over his mouth.

“I’m going to go do a bit more reconnaissance, around the other parts of the city. We’ll meet back here sometime tonight” he turned to leave but the smaller duelist quickly stood up and grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Wait a sec”

“What?”

“I should warn you now, there’s a girl in this city. Her name is Zuzu and she looks a little like Lulu”

His friend’s eyes widened.

“What…?”

“I know, it surprised me when I saw her. But I thought you should know in case you run into her. I don’t want you freaking her out or something” he says calmly “and…also…”

“Also…?”

“According to Zuzu, there’s someone in this city who looks like me.”

“It has to be-”

“No wait” he says quickly “I don’t think its _him_. This guy is apparently her friend, and one of those LID duelists duelled him unfairly. This guy…uhm…I think she called me Yuya at first…? I think it’s Yuya, he’s not the fusion follower. At least as far as I know. No confrontations if we can avoid it please?”

“Fine. Thanks for warning me at least…” he turned back to the exit “I’m going now…”

“Be careful okay?”

“You too”

His friend rushed out of the building and leapt up onto the rooftops, he was gone in a flash leaving the dark duelist alone. He sighed walking over to where he’d been sleeping, he quickly picked up his mask and put it on.

“If the LID students don’t know anything about Duel Academy then they aren’t our enemies…”

He rushes out, silently making his way to the main part of the city. Watching the cars and pedestrians as they went about their daily lives.

_That doesn’t mean Declan Akaba doesn’t know anything though…not my place to intervene with that though._

After all, his friend seemed set on handling that himself. Of course…with his friend’s volatile nature…that might not be a good idea…

He leapt across the rooftops, still just watching Paradise City’s day…until he heard someone shouting from a Megaphone. He paused and tilted his head, looking over to the hospital, it took a few seconds of scanning to find the source of the noise. A man on the balcony of a room on the second level.

“What in the world…?” he muttered, moving closer and then just sitting down to watch.

The man’s face was bright red from all the yelling, how he still had any oxygen in his lungs the dark duelist had no clue. His words were all mixed together as he shouted with fury in his voice. There were only two things that the duelist got from listening to him:

One: He was that duelist Sylvio’s father, Furio Sawatari. (He shouted his name multiple times, apparently using this as some kind of marketing campaign. It wasn’t exactly clear with how intelligible the man’s words were)

_Don’t tell me Sawatari made out that he was actually injured? That’s just underhanded and pathetic…_

Two: He was clearly upset about the ‘attack’ that happened to his son and was demanding some ‘Sakaki’ person be punished.

The duelist frowned. Sakaki, that name was familiar but he couldn’t place why. He felt bad for whoever this Sakaki person was…

Wait.

“That girl mistook me for her friend at first, someone that Sawatari had apparently done wrong by…” he rested his head on his hand as he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully “…would Sawatari and his friends mistake me for that Yuya kid too?”

If that was the case then its possible the person Furio wanted punished was Yuya…Yuya Sakaki…the duelist looked concerned. This man sounded like he had a lot of influence or at least enough…this might cause some issues for Zuzu’s friend…

It was a shame and as much as he would normally be willing to admit that he was the one that supposedly ‘attacked’ Sylvio…he and his friend needed to avoid getting caught up in these sorts of situations…

He stands up.

_At the very least, if I see Zuzu again I should apologise for any trouble I may have caused…_

He finally noticed that Furio had stopped all his yelling, how long had he been away from the balcony for? Looking around he noticed a limo outside the hospital and a woman walking into it with a bodyguard by her. His eyes narrowed.

She had to be someone important…probably to the Leo institute. He couldn’t imagine there were many other limo owners in this city…

The car took off, not back to the Leo institute but to the other side of the city. Towards the smaller, suburban areas. He sighed.

“Well, we’re supposed to be observing…let’s see what this is about”

With that he takes off after it, as fast as he can manage.

\-------------------------------------------------

Gong walked into the duel school, sighing as he rubs the back of his neck.

“Uh, Principal Boyle?”

Skip turns away from the books he was about to bring into the classroom.

“What’s the matter Gong?”

“Gong’s just wondering why there’s a limousine outside the duel school?”

Yuya looked up in confusion, shooting glances at the other kids before looking back at Gong.

“A limo? What in the world is a limo doing here…?”

Frederick looked curious and walked past Gong and outside, Tate and Ally nodded to each other quickly following after him. Moments later three loud gasps were heard from outside. Gong looked to the door then to Zuzu and Yuya who rushed outside, with Sora, Gong and Skip following after.

They came face to face with Henrietta Akaba.

“Hello You Show students”

Yuya froze then groaned a little.

“Not more Akaba’s I can’t handle any more LID stupidity” he muttered.

Skip stepped in front of the students and faced her.

“What exactly are you doing here Henrietta? Declan’s appearance I can somewhat understand but yours…?”

Henrietta chuckled.

“I have something rather important to discuss with you and your students if you’ll let me in?”

Yuya looked at Skip, his eyes pleading for the principal not to let her in. Initially Skip shook his head, refusing.

“No, I don’t think what you have to talk about in that important”

Henrietta gained this sly smirk; her eyes fell on Zuzu and Yuya.

“Oh…it is…”

“Well, let’s hear it out here. I see no reason we have to go inside”

\-----------------------------------------------------

The Dark Duelist finally caught up and took a moment to catch his breath and observe the situation.

_The You Show Duel School…? You Show, You Show…that sounds familiar too…_

His eyes fell on the group people on the ground below.

 _Are those_ all _the students? That’s not many…wait, there’s Zuzu…!_ He narrowed his eyes, looking closer. His eyes widened when they fell on Yuya. _This must be Yuya Sakaki…he does bare a resemblance…_

The duelist’s eyes then fell on Henrietta.

 _And she must be here about the attack…wonderful…I didn’t mean to cause any issues…_ he shakes his head, no time to be wondering about that…he leaps down into the shadows between buildings. Noting that one student, a bright blue haired boy with a lollipop, turned a little.

 _He heard me?_ He looked at the boy carefully _that outfit…! That’s…oh boy…this is just getting better…_

“Why are you staring at Yuya?” A smaller blue haired boy asked, stepping forward.

“I suppose none of you have heard the news?” Henrietta asked “Late yesterday afternoon, one of our students, Sylvio Sawatari, was attacked by a mysterious duelist. He’s been left in the hospital by his injuries!”

She spoke in the most sickly sweet, but clearly manipulative tone the Dark Duelist had ever heard…

_If the higher ups of LID are this manipulative, its no wonder that students turn out like Sawatari…_

Zuzu immediately stepped forward.

“One: I was there and Sylvio only got a hole through his jacket and some damaged pride, he hardly got _hurt_! Two: What does that have to do with Yuya?!”

Henrietta’s eyes fell on the tomato haired teen, in a predatory gaze that made the dark duelist’s skin crawl.

“Well, because the majority of our Witnesses say Yuya did it” she replied.

 _Lie._ He thinks to himself; he could just tell…

The only adult in the group frowned, looking at Zuzu and Yuya.

“Zuzu were you there?”

“Yes”

“And did Yuya do it?”

Zuzu shook her head insistently.

“No Dad! I swear, it wasn’t Yuya!”

“Then who was it?” Henrietta asked.

“It was some other duelist, he looked kinda like Yuya but he didn’t act or duel like Yuya!” Zuzu insists “And _again_ no one got injured _least of all_ Sylvio! And even if he _had_ he would’ve deserved it, considering he _stole_ Yuya’s cards on Declan’s orders!”

 _Declan Akaba ordered Sawatari to steal Yuya’s cards?_ The duelist wondered _I can’t imagine why he would need to do that…being that he heads a Dueling corporation…_

“Zuzu, you’re trying to convince me that some random look alike appeared and duelled Sylvio?”

“It’s the truth!”

“Well, its not very believable”

_You’d be surprised._

The adult, Zuzu’s father the duelist had realised, spoke up again.

“Let’s ask the man himself then” his eyes turned on Yuya “Yuya, answer me honestly here. Did you attack, or even duel Sylvio last night? Heck, were you even in the area last night?”

Yuya inhaled slowly then responds, his eyes never leaving his teacher’s gaze.

“I didn’t attack him. I didn’t duel him. I didn’t even see Sylvio, but I did end up near where the duel happened”

“Why?” the teacher asked.

“I was uh…” Yuya looked down at his deck box for a minute, as if hesitant to answer that question.

“Your silence doesn’t help your case Yuya” Henrietta says smugly.

The duelist frowned, if Yuya had an answer – which he clearly did – why didn’t he say it?

“I was…trying to find Zuzu, partially”

“And you were partially doing what else?” Henrietta asked.

Yuya sighed, pulling out a card from his deck box. The duelist couldn’t see it well from where he was – being as far back as he was, but he could tell it was half brown and half green…

 _I’ve never seen a card like that before…_ he paused, hearing a growl in the back of his mind. He reached into his own deck box and pulled out his Dark Rebellion card. _What’s the matter?_

“I was following Odd-Eyes” Yuya suddenly says, causing the duelist to look over at him “He was…leading me there…with a glow.”

“G-Glowing!?” The teacher gasped in disbelief looking at the other students.

“Its true!” Ally replies.

“We all saw it!” Tate agrees.

“Ya!” Frederick turns to Gong and Sora “You saw it too right?”

The two nod, before Sora meets Henrietta’s gaze.

“I don’t believe it but I saw it”

“And here’s the thing, you would all say or do anything to keep Yuya out of trouble” she looks over at him “Yuya, you’ve always been a bit too attached to those cards of yours but this is ridiculous. Cards don’t glow and they don’t lead you anywhere, they just help you win matches”

Despite her disbelieving tone there was a look of curiosity and plotting on her face…what was going through her head? The duelist wasn’t sure but the fact that she smirked in response to Yuya’s low growl set off quite a large amount of alarm bells in the duelist’s head.

Another snarl echoed through his mind and the dark duelist looked back down at Dark Rebellion.

_This Odd-Eyes…is it riling you up?_

An affirmative growl echoes in his mind.

 _Another Dragon perhaps…? If it led Yuya to the warehouse then it might have been trying to find you…like you try to lead me to that fusion follower…_ he looked back over to Yuya, frowning in concern _He doesn’t even know how special what he can do is…_

“Never mind all this! It’s nonsense, but here I have a solution I think you’ll all agree on!” Henrietta smirks “A duel”

“A duel?” Gong starts “and what – if Gong may ask – would this duel have on the line?”

“Yeah, it’s gotta be more than just a duel” Zuzu agrees.

“Oh, its rather simple, three matches, three of _your_ school’s best students vs three of _mine_ and whoever wins the most matches gets what they want. If your school wins, I’ll let any talk of Yuya being guilty go and we’ll pretend this little incident never happened.”

Yuya takes a step forward, anger burning in his eyes.

“And if _you_ win?”

“Well, we’ll add the You Show Duel School to our LID chain” she begins receiving shocked gasps from the students “ _And_ Yuya, you’ll have to enrol at Leo. No arguments”

“What?!” The teacher steps forward, “why would we ever agree to that!?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll press charges against Yuya and we’ll see if your little school can come out on top, I doubt you could even afford to help him fight it”

The duelist gritted his teeth, this woman was using her power to oppress these kids and their school and force them into a duel that – as far as the duelist had determined – they likely couldn’t win.

_That’s completely despicable. I really hope this is as bad as they get…_

Yuya sighed, looking at his teacher.

“Principal Boyle, she’s threatening _my_ father’s school. I don’t care about her threats to me, but I’m not letting her get away with it!” he announces “Let’s do this! Me, Sora and Zuzu are the Youth Division students, we’ll take her students on any day”

Gong nods.

“And Gong and the others will be your support! Gong’s up to duel for You Show if he’s needed!”

Sora smirks a little, biting down on his lollipop.

“It sounds like fun”

“Are you sure kids? These are Leo Students…and the _top_ ones…”

“Yeah” Zuzu replies “And Yuya’s beaten the Pro Circuit champion! Sora’s a master fusion summoner and I like to think I’m pretty good with my Melodious Monsters. We can take them!”

 _Fusion summoner?_ The duelist sighs, stepping even further into the shadows while they were distracted _that confirms it…_

“Besides that” Yuya replies, “I have Pendulum Power on my side, she can’t take that!”

He freezes.

_Pendulum…? What’s…Pendulum?_

“Well, Skip it appears your students have made their decision.”

“Fine…” he turns to Henrietta “Then let’s go”

The group walked inside, he remained until he knew there was no one else around and stepped out of hiding. The school was clearly open, he could even see where their duelling arena was.

“It couldn’t hurt to go watch, after all, I caused this…so…its only right that I make sure it ends well…”

But would going inside be wise? He still doesn’t know why Zuzu’s bracelet glowed last night, or why it teleported him away.

If he got too close and it happened again, who was to say where he would end up?

Eventually he sighs and makes his decision. In the end, it would only be beneficial to see the top students of LID in action, this will help him determine exactly _how_ much trouble this city is in…

\-------------------------------------------------------------

Sylvio was quietly trying to pretend that Ootomo and Yamabe’s presence wasn’t irritating. They had arrived a few minutes after Henrietta Akaba had left and were constantly talking about how glad they were that the chairwoman was going to show Yuya Sakaki what for.

Kakimoto looked between them and Sylvio then spoke up.

“Guys, can you quiet down. I promised Sylvio we’d be quiet”

“Oh! Sorry!” Ootomo quickly said “You must still be tired! Yamabe! We should go actually and see how Madame Chairwoman’s plan is going!”

“Right, sounds like a plan!” Yamabe agreed “can’t wait to see the look on Sakaki’s face when this is all over!”

The two rush out the room without another word, though Yamabe peeks back in staring at Kakimoto.

“Aren’t you coming man?”

Kakimoto glanced at Sylvio, then at Furio, who wasn’t yelling through a megaphone anymore but was still pacing and muttering irritably. He shakes his head as he looks back to Yamabe.

“No, I think I’ll stay here. I ran the whole way here, I’m already exhausted, no way in hell am I running all the way to You Show from here” he replies “fill me and Sylvio in when you get back”

Yamabe shrugs.

“Suit yourself” he turns to follow after Ootomo and the two remaining teens hear him calling out down the hospital corridor about grabbing their duel disks just in case.

Sylvio looks at Kakimoto.

“You know I’m _not actually hurt_ remember? You don’t have to watch over me like some protective mutt”

Kakimoto flinched, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Well, yeah I know. But really…” he glances at Furio again “I just don’t wanna leave you along dealing with Mr. Marketing over there. That’d drive anyone crazy”

Sylvio supresses a snicker then looks thoughtful for a moment, before sliding out of the bed and grabbing his uniform jacket and slipping it on. Kakimoto stared at him in confusion.

“What are you...?”

Sylvio raises one finger to his mouth in a ‘quiet’ gesture, before whispering.

“You’re right, it _does_ drive me crazy and personally I don’t feel like sitting around listening to him _all day_. So why don’t we blow this popsicle stand?”

\----------------------------------------------

“Alright, allow me to introduce my three students” Henrietta says calmly as three teens walked in.

The first was a guy, dressed in blue, with purple hair and what looked to be some constellation themed accessory on his head.

“This is Dipper O’Rion” Henrietta explains “Top duelist from the LID Xyz Course, you think Sylvio’s Xyz was impressive? Dipper can match that and better”

Yuya huffed, rolling his eyes.

“I didn’t _see_ Sylvio’s Xyz summon, because I didn’t _duel him_ ”

“You say that Yuya, but we all know the truth” Dipper said with a smirk, though the look in his eyes indicated he really was here only for the chance to cause a little mischief. It was one of _those_ looks.

Henrietta gestured to the girl in the group, with tan skin and long black hair. She had a hand on her hip in the most dismissive stance and was the only one that didn’t look relatively smug about this whole thing.

“Julia Krystal, top student of the Fusion Course” she explains.

Sora takes his lollipop out of his mouth for a minute to meet the girl’s bored gaze with an intense, yet unimpressed one. He then shrugs, putting it back in his mouth and raising his hands above his head in a relaxed motion.

“3 turns against me” he says calmly “that’s how long she’ll last at best”

Julia flinched, a hint of anger seeping into her body language as she took a step forward.

“What’d you say, you little candy obsessed freak?” she asks in a threatening tone “might want to revaluate your chances”

Sora glanced back, eyed her up and down then smirked.

“You’re right. I was wrong, 3 turns isn’t right”

Julia allows herself to feel smug for only a second before Sora’s smirk shifts into something a little less competitive and a bit more dangerous.

“You’d be out in an OTK, _easy_ ”

Julia’s mouth dropped, staring at the smaller fusion user incredulously.

Henrietta rolled her eyes and looks at the final duelist, his had a mess of hair and wooden sword sheathed on his back.

“Kit Blade, best of the Synchro course” she says calmly.

He folds his arms, staring at Yuya, Zuzu and Sora.

“So who am I dueling…?”

Zuzu folds her arms too then looks over at her father.

“Dad? How are we deciding who faces who?” she asks.

Skip shrugs.

“I don’t know, what do you suppose Madame Chairwoman?”

“Simple, I decide my duelist first. But in return, you’ll get to choose the action field each time. After which, the duelists may decide who goes first” she then looks at Dipper “and I want Dipper as my first duelist”

Skip looks at Dipper then at Zuzu, Yuya and Sora.

“Alright, who thinks they can take on the Xyz expert over here?”

Sora hums thoughtfully, shooting quick looks between Dipper and Julia.

 _Battle the pathetic excuse for a fusion user?_ He thinks _or take on the Xyz ‘expert’ over here…I kinda want to face another Xyz user…_

He makes up his mind and opens his mouth to answer.

“I wi-” he was cut off by Yuya stepping front of him.

“I’ll take this guy down” Yuya says quickly.

Sora huffs, looking irritated as he bites down on his lollipop.

“But _Coach Y!_ ” he complained “I was gonna beat him!”

Yuya chuckled, looking back at Sora apologetically.

“Sorry, I kinda call this duel Sora and _don’t_ call me Coach Y. You lost our duel remember?”

“Right…fine…” he huffs again and storms off with Zuzu awkwardly staring after him.

Henrietta nods.

“The decision has been made, Julia, Kit, follow Mr. Perse into the observation room” she looks at Dipper “don’t lose”

“no way Madame Chairwoman!”

The woman nods again and follows after her two other students, Zuzu hesitates a second then gently taps Yuya on the shoulder.

“Yeah?” he asks, looking at her in concern “is something wrong Zuzu?”

“Nothing, I just…” she inhales slowly “You can do this Yuya!”

Yuya’s eyes lit up a little and – if it were possible – the room seemed to light up with him, he turned to face his opponent as Zuzu went to the observation room. Determination was etched into his crimson eyes.

_Thanks Zuzu…now…now there’s no way I can lose!_

He sets up his duel disk, Dipper following. Then he looked around noticing that an Action field hadn’t yet been triggered, he looked up to Skip.

“Hey, Principal Boyle! What’s the hold up?!”

 _“Sorry Yuya, just trying to pick the perfect battlefield for our star student!”_ he jokes then pauses _“Star…Star…perfect!”_

Yuya raises an eyebrow as Skip presses a button.

_“I activate the Action Field Cosmic Sanctuary!”_

The field began to materialise around them and a robotic voice intoned the familiar phrase:

_“Action Cards Dispersed”_

Yuya looked around in surprise.

“oh wow…pretty!”

Dipper froze then broke out into uncontrollable laughter, Yuya huffed glaring him down.

“What’s so funny!?”

 _“Yeah”_ Skip added _“I don’t see a reason for you to be laughing!”_

Dipper wiped a tear from his eyes before smirking widely.

“Are both _that dumb_?!”

Suddenly Tate gasped from the observation room and called out:

“Yuya! Cosmic Sanctuary is the action field Dipper specializes in! Its in his name, Dipper O’Rion!”

Yuya froze, thinking about it for a second before groaning. That made sense, Dipper, Dipper as in the big dipper…oh wonderful…disadvantaged already…

“Well Yuya?” Dipper asked “Shall we begin?”

Yuya sighed, well its not as if he could do much to change it now. He raised his duel disk.

“Alright fine, we’ll wipe the floor with you LID Rats!”

“Keep talking Sakaki, its all you and your father are good at doing”

Yuya flinched, gritted his teeth and both duelists shouted:

**“Let’s duel!”**

**_Dipper O’Rion  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so! PLOT KICKS IN FOR REAL NOW XD While the matchups will probably be the same (unless I make some random last minute decision like I did with Sylvio Vs Yuya) I intend to make the duels play out differently. In between these we shall get some time with Shay, because well…I kinda have the bad habit of only focusing on my favourites so…uh…if Yuto is a viable option, he tends to get the most focus.
> 
> Thus, I shall try and break this habit by giving Shay some focus now!
> 
> Hopefully you’ll enjoy the upcoming episodes as the plot slowly, but surely, deviates from its original direction. ^~^
> 
> Sorry it took a while to update ^^;


	9. Scale 9 - Star Struck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuya's duel with Dipper begins, but unfortunately the Xyz summoner is really getting on his nerves and strange things are starting to happen...meanwhile the Dark Duelist's comrade Shay is causing more problems around the city...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to show more of the duel details this time, if it ends up working well I’ll keep it up from now on (and might update the earlier chapters, not sure)

The taller visitor stared at the Leo Institute, his piercing yellow eyes locked onto its doors as students, teachers, visitors and other people went in and out.

Mostly he was focused on one particular person, a teacher leading a class of teens probably his age if looks meant anything. He _knew_ this teacher was the head of the fusion course at this school, it didn’t take much looking around to learn that…

_Just be patient…_ he thinks to himself as he feels that familiar rage building inside him, _it’ll be worth it._

He couldn’t just attack out in the open, that was ridiculous. No, to draw out the head of the Leo Institute he wanted to be a little more subtle…

The teacher appeared popular, surrounded by students as they asked questions cheerfully. He smiled and politely answered them, the cloaked duelist couldn’t help but remember when that used to be _him._

When he and his class gathered around popular teachers to ask questions, when he and one of his friends, maybe more like his rival he supposed, would be bombarded by younger students after their duels…smiles, laughter, joy…

He gritted his teeth.

_How can fusion **scum** like that stand there smiling!? When _my _world is burning!?_

A familiar voice echoed in the back of his mind as a memory of his conversation with his comrade last night resurfaced.

_~~_

_“You heading to sleep now?” The dark duelist asked as the taller duelist went to sit down in a corner of the warehouse._

_“Yeah, I figure, you look exhausted. You go to sleep and there’s no way I’ll be able to wake you up till you’ve gotten the sleep you needed. So…I’ll sleep first, you take first watch and wake me up if you feel like you can’t stay awake”_

_He folds his arms and shuts his eyes, resting his head against the wall. His friend remains silent for a time before finally speaking up._

_“Hey, before you sleep. I think I should tell you now…while I have your attention”_

_“Tell me what…?” He asks opening one eye to stare at his black clad friend._

_“Like I said, I duelled someone from LDS today.” The dark Duelist explains “He wasn’t exactly a warrior…and from what I’ve seen, it’s the same for all the duelists here…LDS or otherwise”_

_“What are you trying to say?”_

_“I’m saying that I don’t think that LDS is our enemy, in fact from what I heard from my opponent, they don’t even know anything about Duel Academy” He says quietly “That isn’t to say Declan Akaba is just as innocent, I’m still unsure about him, but it seems at the very least the students of his duel school are just that. Students”_

_The teen sighed, looking away from his shorter friend._

_“So what, you’re telling me that even those who use_ fusion _aren’t our enemies?”_

_“Yeah, even the fusion users. I can’t say it makes me happy to see that method in use but…this_ is _Standard after all, all methods appear in use here. Synchro, Xyz, Ritual and yes, Fusion. None of them that I can tell are our enemies” he stands up and walks over to his friend, staring him down “I’m telling you this, because I know you, I know you really well”_

_“Yeah, I know you well too” he mutters._

_“And I_ know _that you’ve done something, you’ve already done something super messed up Shay” he whispers “And I know why you did it. I’m not mad at you for it, you couldn’t know that the person you fought wasn’t an enemy but if you do it again, know that I don’t support it. You’d be attacking an innocent.”_

_The duelist, Shay, huffed._

_“I know the difference between enemy and ally, don’t lecture me”_

_“I don’t think you do Shay” his friend mutters quietly “Just…promise me that you won’t attack anyone else? We aren’t supposed to cause problems in this city, just lure out Akaba. Please Shay…?”_

_“Whatever…” he shuts his eyes, a sign that their conversation was over._

_~~_

_I never made any promise._ Shay thinks to himself.

Yes, he understood how his best friend had always thought. It’s stooping to their level. It isn’t what dueling is for. Over and over again, he’d received this lecture…

Maybe he’d grown numb to it all by now, maybe he felt like his friend was being a hypocrite about it, but he couldn’t care less how many of these Fusion course kids he had to destroy before Akaba made an appearance. This was for the sake of destroying Duel Academy, getting revenge for his home.

And unfortunately, the desire for vengeance had left Shay with terrible tunnel vision.

His goal was in sight, and nothing – not even the plea of his best friend – would stop him from achieving it. The teacher waved to the class, saying something or other.

Shay wasn’t certain exactly but he already knew this might be his chance. He had to follow after this guy…

\----------------------------------------------

Yuya huffed and made his mind up as soon as the phrase ‘let’s duel’ had left his lips.

“you’re our _guest_ Dipper, so go on. You make the first move”

“As you wish!” Dipper replied “First, I’ll normal summon _Constellar Algiedi_ from my hand!”

**Constellar Algiedi – [Level 4 – LIGHT – Spellcaster/Effect – ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400]**

The monster practically twirled in a threatening stance when it appeared, Yuya hardly even reacted to it. This guy was an Xyz user and – if what he read when he quickly checked Algiedi’s effect meant anything – he would likely get an Xyz monster out first turn…

“As its been normal summoned, I can special summon 1 level 4 or lower ‘Constellar’ monster from my hand!” Dipper says before placing a second card on his duel disk “I choose to summon _Constellar Kaus!_ ”

**Constellar Kaus – [Level 4 – LIGHT – Beast-Warrior/Effect – ATK: 1800/DEF: 700]**

“Thanks to Constellar Kaus’s ability I can raise or reduce the level of any monster on my field by 1, twice per turn! First, Kaus will raise its own level by 1!” Dipper says confidently “then, it’ll raise Algiedi’s Level by 1!”

_Two level five monsters._ Yuya huffed internally, he could handle this at least…he hoped he could.

Dipper looks at his hand, before smirking and sliding a spell into his duel disk.

“Before I move on, I’m activating the continuous spell _Constellar Star Chart!_ ”

_Constellar Star Chart?_ Yuya tapped his duel disk a couple times, bringing up its effect before groaning. Now Dipper’s going to have more cards to play around with every time he Xyz summons…

“Now! I’ll use my level 5 Constellar Algiedi and my level 5 Constellar Kaus to build the overlay network!”

A vortex opened below him, twirling around with purpose and giving off the wind that action fields made possible. The two monsters twirled into yellow lights that shot straight into the vortex, it began to almost bubble over with white energy.

“Distant stars, cast you light in the darkness and shatter the night apart! **I Xyz Symmon!** ” Dipper shouts as the white light explodes outwards “Reveal yourself! Rank 5! _Constellar Pleiades!_ ”

From the light a huge, armoured monster appeared, its armour white and rimmed with gold. The parts not covered by the armour were dark blue, almost purple and it had a long flowing cape, decorated with yellow gems and the underside of it appeared to almost look like a galaxy. Two yellow lights swirled around it.

**Constellar Pleiades – [Rank 5 – LIGHT – Warrior/Xyz/Effect – ATK: 2500/DEF: 1500 – OU: 2]**

Yuya stared up at the monster, okay, so he _had_ expected an Xyz summon but he _hadn’t_ expected it to be quite this big.

“Next, the effect of Constellar Star Chart activates, since I special summoned a Constellar Xyz monster this turn I can draw a card!” He glances down at the card he drew then his grin widened “Oh look, I drew the continuous spell _Constellar Belt_ , which I’ll activate right now! Now, you can’t negate any of my light monsters’ effects”

Yuya frowned, oh that’s not good. He quickly checked Pleiades’ effect, hoping it wouldn’t be – oh great…now he had to find a way around this effect without actually negating it.

“Alright, I’m done for now. Turn over”

“And now I’m about to get started!” Yuya announces, drawing a card “Let’s get this show on the road!”

\------------------------------------------------------

The dark duelist hummed in thought, not a bad opening for a Standard Xyz user…but still not impressive. The cards appeared to be very real though and gave off real wind. (Even though he was outside, he could see Dipper’s outfit flying all over the place during the summon)

He recalled that both Zuzu and Sylvio had seemed surprised by his Xyz summon giving off wind…but here it appears to be normal.

_This must be solid vision then…_ he thinks to himself, glancing down at his own duel disk.

Where he was from, Solid vision was still only being used for the blades of their duel disks and a couple – not dueling related – other things. They hadn’t quite mastered the use of it in duels…but clearly like the fusion folks that he despised, these people used it constantly.

“Still” he mutters to himself, looking back at the duel “That didn’t make the summon at all impressive…it might even be worse than Sawatari’s…”

\----------------------------------------------------------

Shay rushed across the rooftops.

He’d seen his target enter one of the card shops nearby, that had surprised him though. He knew that LID had its own little card shop, maybe there was stuff here the teacher couldn’t find there? Possible, but that didn’t matter.

The thought was there just to pass the time.

_Oh, he’s leaving…_

The man walked down the path then paused, checking his watch. Suddenly he gasped and rushed off, turning a corner into one of the alleyways nearby. Shay smirked behind his scarf.

_Must’ve been gone from LID too long…he’ll be gone a little longer unfortunately for him._

He quickly jumped across to another roof, leaping down behind the teacher. Duel Disk already set up.

“Hey, you” he says calmly.

The teacher turned in surprise.

“Who are you…?” he asked, before realising Shay was holding his duel disk out “is this a challenge?”

“Yes. It is, _fusion scum_ ” he says sternly “So arm yourself”

The teacher sighed, setting his own duel disk up.

“Alright, well can we make it quick? I have a class to get back to.”

“…Of course…go on, first move is yours”

As the teacher went about making his first move, Shay could only hear one thought ringing through his mind.

_It’ll be quick alright…I can’t imagine he’ll last more than three turns against me._

\----------------------------------------------------------

Yuya stares at the card he drew, looking genuinely surprised. Eventually he shook his head and refocused his attention on the duel.

“First things first!” Yuya announces, pulling two cards from his hand “ _Ladies and gentleman!_ Welcome to the show! I’ll start by setting the Pendulum Scale with my scale 4 Performapal Safety Magician and my scale 9 _Performapal Danger Magician!_ ”

**Performapal Safety Magician –** **[Level 3 – Scale 4 – WIND – Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect – ATK: 300/DEF: 2000]**

**Performapal Danger Magician – [Level 5 – Scale 9 – FIRE – Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect – ATK: 2000/DEF: 100]**

The two magicians appeared behind him in pillars of light, with decorative versions of the numbers 4 and 9 beneath them. Safety Magician giggled excitedly, twirling her staff before looking over at her new partner. She seemed genuinely surprised.

Danger Magician certainly looked the part, she was dressed in mostly orange and red, with dual coloured pink hair kind of like Zuzu’s only pulled into a bun with two parts of it flowing quite long at the back. She had an orange choker that resembled Yuya’s around her neck, as well as dark red wrist bands over orange fingerless gloves and a pale red belt with a gold buckle. Her skirt was red but her top was orange…kind…of like Yuya…huh. She had a long silver and gold cape and hanging from her neck, a very familiar looking necklace, just…pale red.

She twirled her own staff as her red eyes gleamed.

Zuzu was the first to notice the similarities and upon taking a closer look at Safety Magician her accessories, being a choker with little circles around it and similar looking wristbands, looked eerily like the accessories the dark duelist had on…only more teal and less black.

She frowned, knowing that prior to his duel with Sylvio, Safety Magician had never _ever_ been in Yuya’s deck and based on his own surprise at the card he’d drawn on his first turn – which she had assumed was Danger Magician – was it hard to assume Danger Magician had a similar backstory. Do cards just… _appear_ in Yuya’s deck??

“Thanks to these two lovely ladies I can summon any number of monsters between the levels of 5 and 8 all at the same time! So, swing far Pendulum! Carve the Arc of victory!” he raised a hand to the sky as the huge pendulum swung between his two magicians “My monster is ready – To Swing into action!”

A single light shot down from the portal that opened up.

“Work your magic, Stargazer Magician!”

**Stargazer Magician – [Level 5 – Scale 1 – DARK – Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect – ATK: 1200/DEF: 2400]**

Stargazer was surrounded by a faint blue glow, indicating he was in defence mode. Yuya finishes by slapping a monster onto his duel disk.

“I’ll end my turn by setting this monster face down in defence mode” Yuya stares at Constellar Pleiades “Over to you Dipper”

Dipper broke out into laughter.

“All you can do is summon two monsters in defence position?!” He asks in shock “Man, I shouldn’t be surprised though! You’re hiding from my Xyz monster! Like the coward you are!”

Yuya flinched, gritting his teeth slightly before he inhaled slowly. Forcing down the irritation and plastering a smile on his face.

“Come on Dipper, its your move! Don’t keep the crowd in suspense!”

Dipper raises an eyebrow.

“Oh I won’t! I draw!” he looks at his card and smirks “If Pleiades scares you, then my next play will really leave you shaking in your duel disk!”

\---------------------------------------

The dark duelist blinked in surprise. For as showy as Yuya had made that move, it was…at its basics, an extremely simple one.

Two monsters in defence mode. He was playing it safe.

However, that wasn’t what the duelist was surprised about.

_That Pendulum thing…was this what he meant? Pendulum Power…?_ He could even see from here how the duel disk now read pendulum in all capitals. _A new summoning method…_

It had to be right? He hasn’t seen a single other person use this method and beyond that, even if he’d just run into an unpopular method, he’d expect to have seen it in LID’s curriculum but it wasn’t there when he checked it out…

So he really had run into something new hasn’t he…?

He felt a little bad for Yuya honestly, he looked really out of it and the duelist suspected it had something to do with that ‘coward’ comment. He didn’t see what Yuya had done that turn as ‘Cowardly’ it was actually the right move, he has no idea what Dipper’s strategy is, the best move was to wait until Dipper revealed more of his plan then work out how to counter it.

He suspected Dipper was just being arrogant and had no idea that Yuya was actually playing smart, which meant it would be a shame if Yuya got thrown off his game…

\------------------------------------------------------------------ 

The teacher frowned, in his first two turns he’d achieved two fusion summons and yet his opponent, this mysterious cloaked duelist…seemed unphased…he glanced at the field, trying to anticipate what his opponent might be planning next.

**_Metalfoes Adamante_ ** **– [Level 5 – FIRE – Psychic/Fusion – ATK: 2500/DEF: 2500]**

**_Metalfoes Orichalc_ ** **– [Level 8 – FIRE – Psychic/Fusion/Effect – ATK: 2800/DEF: 2200]**

The teacher’s eyes darted to the monsters on his opponent’s field and a nervous thought occurred to him…

**_Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius_ ** **– [Level 4 – DARK – Winged Beast/Effect – ATK: 1300/DEF: 1600]**

**_Raidraptor – Tribute Lanius_ ** **– [Level 4 – DARK – Winged Beast/Effect – ATK: 1800/DEF: 400]**

_They’re both level 4…_

Shay’s eyes glinted with determination as he drew his next card.

“My move! I normal summon _Raidraptor – Fuzzy Lanius_ from my hand!”

**Raidraptor – Fuzzy Lanius – [Level 4 – DARK – Winged Beast/Effect – ATK: 500/DEF: 1500]**

“You fusioners think you’re all that…” Shay announces, as the three bird like monsters on his field turned into purple lights that swirled into the huge vortex beneath him “I’ll show you _exactly_ how wrong you are!”

The light in the vortex bloomed, waiting for the command that would unleash the beast within. The teacher’s eyes widened in concern, wind was whipping up, energy flaring out…he hadn’t realised it before then…but…this duel was _real._

“From the shadows, the falcon soars on wings of courage! It’s talons ready for the rebellion! **I Xyz Summon!** ”

The light explodes outwards as a mighty falcon soars into the skies above them, its eyes gleaming with dangerous intent.

“Witness the almighty _Raidraptor – Rise Falcon!_ ”

**Raidraptor – Rise Falcon – [Rank 4 – DARK – Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect – ATK: 100/DEF: 2000 – OU: 3]**

Three purple lights swirled around it as it let out a mighty screech, causing the teacher to back up slightly. Any younger duelist might have been willing to assume it was useless for only having 100 attack points. But he was a teacher, though not of the Xyz course he _knew_ Xyz monsters gain their strength from Overlay units…

“Raidraptor – Rise Falcon is only allowed to attack special summoned monsters, but it can attack _all_ special summoned monsters you attack once per turn.” Shay asks, his glare evident behind the glasses “By using one overlay unit Rise Falcon gains the attack points of all face up Special summoned monsters you control!!”

**[Rise Falcon OU: 3 - > 2 – ATK: 100 -> 5400]**

The teacher’s eyes widened.

“N-No way! 5400!?”

“Can your life points survive…?” Shay asked sinisterly “Raidraptor – Rise Falcon! Take flight and annihilate Metalfoes Adamante and Metalfoes Orichalc! Crush this pathetic _fusion **scum**_! **Ravaging Rebellion!** ”

The teacher went flying backwards as his two monsters were destroyed, he slammed into the wall behind him. Dropping to the ground with a loud thud as his life points dropped to zero.

Shay huffed, retracting his duel disk causing the falcon to disappear. The damage however did not disappear. Just like with his ally’s duel against Sylvio there was evidence of his duel everyone. Smoke and small flames slowly dying down, deep claw marks on the walls of the ally way and the teacher’s tattered clothes.

Shay walked towards the teacher, raising his duel disk and tapping it a couple times to pull something up. He glared down at the teacher.

“I was right, only three turns” he tapped the duel disk again, a violet light shining from it towards the teacher.

In a flash the teacher had vanished, only his duel disk remained on the ground…and a card, with the teacher’s image imprinted on it. He looked terrified. Shay leaned down and picked it up, shaking it a couple times to get rid of the dust.

“Time to send Akaba another message…” he leaps up onto the roof and heads towards LID.

\-------------------------------------------------

“I summon _Constellar Scorpio_ in attack mode!”

**Constellar Scorpio – [Level 4 – LIGHT – Warrior/Effect – ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200]**

The monster appeared, glaring down Yuya and his two monsters. It seemed largely unphased by them and turned to Dipper, as if waiting.

“Next, when Constellar Scorpio is normal summoned successfully, I can special summon a level 4 or lower ‘Constellar’ monster from deck!” Dipper continues, a card sliding out of his deck for him to summon “So, here comes a second Constellar Kaus!”

**Constellar Kaus – [Level 4 – LIGHT – Beast-Warrior/Effect – ATK: 1800/DEF: 700]**

Yuya frowns.

_He’s planning to Xyz Summon again…one Xyz monster is bad enough but two!?_ His eyes dart around the unfamiliar action field, scanning for cards. He’d needs one… _there!_

He sprints off to get the action card, partially wishing he had Hip Hippo or Odd-Eyes right now to give him a boost of speed. Dipper put a hand on his hip, huffing irritably but still smirking.

“Excuse me, how rude. You should stay and watch when I’m Xyz summoning” he snaps his fingers “Pleiades, make our opponent behave”

The giant monster rushed forward faster than Yuya could react, landing in front of him. Between him and the Action Card, Yuya took a nervous step back then darted to the left to get around him only for the Xyz monster to slam its weapon into the ground sending Yuya flying backwards.

He groaned pushing himself to his feet and glaring over at Dipper.

“Now…where was I?” Dipper thought aloud before smirking “I build the overlay network with my Level 4 Constellar Kaus and my Level 4 Constellar Scorpio!”

The two monsters turned into yellow lights that shot into the vortex forming beneath him. Yuya had no choice but to stand there and watch.

“Mighty warrior, come forth from the edges of our galaxy and bathe the earth in your radiant amber glow! **I Xyz Summon!** Rank 4! _Constellar Praesepe!_ ”

The light exploded outwards and the new monster cut through it. Revealing its armour to bear similarities to Pleiades’ as is expected of Constellar Monsters, but it had a more amber theme as its chant had suggested. Two yellow lights circled it.

**Constellar Praesepe – [Rank 4 – LIGHT – Machine/Xyz/Effect – ATK: 2400/DEF: 800 – OU: 2]**

“And now, thanks to the effect of Constellar Star Chart, because I Xyz summoned a Constellar Monster this turn I can draw a card!” Dipper adds it to his hand then smirks even wider “Now I’ll play the spell _Chain Summon!_ Since I control two face up Xyz monsters I can special summon an Xyz monster from my Extra deck that’s one rank lower than the lowest rank on my field”

Yuya’s eyes drift over to Praesepe.

_That means his monster will be Rank 3 then…_

“I choose to special summon my _Constellar Hyades_ from my extra deck!”

**Constellar Hyades – [Rank 3 – LIGHT – Beast-Warrior/Xyz/Effect – ATK: 1900/DEF: 1100 – OU: 0]**

Yuya frowns, 1900 attack, 2400 attack and 2500 attack…that is not good.

“Now! Battle phase!” Dipper announces “Constellar Hyades attacks Stargazer Magician!”

Yuya was thrown for a loop with that move, Hyades had less attack points that Stargazer’s defence…but something told him not to let this move play out. He turned and dashed for a different action card, while taking the chance to check Dipper’s field.

“What have you got planned?” he whispered.

Dipper answered his question moments later.

“By using one overlay unit, I can activate the special ability of Constellar Praesepe!” Dipper announces, one of the yellow lights around Praesepe disappearing “Whenever a Constellar Monster I control is attacked or attacking, I can make that monster gain 1000 attack points until the end phase!”

**[Praesepe OU: 2 - > 1 – Hyades ATK: 1900 -> 2900]**

Yuya flinched as Stargazer was destroyed but didn’t stop moving. He couldn’t. Stargazer he could just summon back thanks to his Pendulum Scale but the other monster he set _wasn’t_ a Pendulum monster…

“Next! Constellar Praesepe attacks your face down monster!”

It flipped up revealing itself to be Performapal Hip Hippo. Yuya’s eyes glinted with concern for his little friend and he turned slightly holding his hand out.

“I activate Performapal Danger Magician’s Pendulum ability! Once per turn I can target any ‘Odd-Eyes’, ‘Performapal’ or ‘Magician’ monster on my field and it can’t be destroyed by battle or card effects until the end of my next turn!”

Danger Magician giggles, twirling her staff before pointing it at Hip Hippo. The monster was surrounded by a protective red aura.

Dipper raises an eyebrow before looking at Pleiades.

“I detach one overlay unit from Constellar Pleiades to activate its effect!”

**[Pleiades OU: 2 - > 1]**

Yuya could already hear nervous mumbles from the other You Show students as they wondered what _this_ ability was.

“Once per turn I can send one card on the field back to your hand!” Dipper explains “You may have saved your Hippo from being _destroyed_ this turn, but being sent back to your hand is a different story”

_Much as I hate to admit it…he’s right…_

Hip Hippo gasped as it burst into pixels and Yuya sighed, taking it off his duel disk and sliding the card back into his hand. Then panic stretched onto his face as he realised…

_Crap…he can attack me directly…and between Pleiades and Praesepe….I won’t survive!_

“A replay occurs and Praesepe attacks you directly!”

Yuya gasps and turns back to chasing after the action card, Hyades however lands in front of him. Determined to stop him from getting it. Yuya panicked, looking around for a way around it but found none.

Praesepe sent him flying into the ground, Yuya forced himself back to his feet despite how that hit had hurt.

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 1600_

“Need to get an action card…” He starts off again, just one…just _one_ to save him from the attack, halve the damage anything…

“Constellar Pleiades attacks you directly!” Dipper announces “It’s a shame, you’re running around like a headless chicken, chasing action cards. Though, that _is_ how cowards play”

Yuya freezes. Only for a second, shooting a small glare to Dipper before taking off even faster than before. Hyades and Praesepe try to get in his way but this time he doesn’t slow down for even a second.

He manages, if barely, to snag an action card.

“Action spell! _Reinforcement_!” Yuya announces “I gain 1000 life points!”

Yuya barely had time to do the maths in his head before Pleiades sent him flying yet again, leaving the teen sprawled out on the ground groaning.

1000 meant he would survive with exactly…

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 100_

“100…life points” Yuya muttered, forcing himself to his feet again.

Dipper scoffed.

“And he escapes again…fine. I’ll end my turn, with that Constellar Hyades returns to my extra deck” he says calmly “over to you Yuya”

Yuya inhaled slowly, drawing a card. He stared at it and the cards in his hand…he could definitely do something with this he just had to think this through…

“Cowardice can only get you so far” Dipper suddenly says.

Yuya’s head snaps up and his irritated gaze locks with Dipper’s mocking one.

“How many times are you going to say that?”

“What…? Oh! You mean… _Coward_?” Dipper chuckles “Well, as many times as I need to before you admit its _true._ I mean, I’d be hesitant to ever duel in public if I had _your_ history”

Yuya gritted his teeth a little.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard it all before”

“So its not surprising then? Your father just _doesn’t_ show up to a hugely important duel, proving the Sakaki’s were cowards. Then you show up with a method no ones ever heard of, likely having cheated the system to win your duel against the Sledgehammer, even more telling is the fact that no one else even has these cards except you.”

Yuya clenched his fists and shut his eyes, as if not making eye contact might help him ignore what the Xyz user was saying.

“ _Then_ you attack poor Sylvio and have the _nerve_ to pretend it wasn’t you! And there’s that whole business regarding ‘glowing cards’ leading you places” Dipper places a hand on his hip “oh yeah, we were all in the limo, we heard it. Honestly, you’re a freak and a coward”

“Shut up…” Yuya whispers.

“Freedom of speech dear Yuya.” Dipper hums in thought “you know what, Entertainment is a good career for you. Everyone _loves_ a clown. They could throw pies at you and you could run scared, you already do that last part so it’s a perfect match”

“…shut. Up.” He hisses out, more insistent than before. The You Show students watched in concern, knowing Dipper was pushing too far, Dipper just kept up the mocking.

The thing about Yuya was that he _pretended_ he was a clown. Over the last three years there was one particular skill he’d mastered, burying anything too negative as far down as he could manage and hiding it behind that smile.

And it worked, for the most part.

Sometimes it slipped out, like against Declan.

Sometimes it almost does, like against Sylvio.

Most of the time, only Zuzu and his mother could tell when something had him internally seething, though he didn’t for the life of him know how. He’d grown accustomed to ignoring, blocking out or otherwise forgetting about what nasty things had been said to him…

But in those three years he’d found one thing that _always_ set him off. No question.

_Coward._

Whether the word was directed at him or his father or someone else entirely. That word leaves anyone’s lips and they have one very, _very_ angry clown on their hands.

But as Zuzu said to Sora.

All he does is yell a bit and duel someone, Yuya is harmless…he knew that and everyone who cared about him knew it. That was all that mattered to Yuya.

Still he would prefer if Dipper didn’t push the matter any further. Honestly, he had a feeling _everyone_ would prefer it that way…

“Well? Going to take your move, _Coward_?”

Snap.

“Fine. You want me to take my move!? I _will!_ ” Yuya announces, startling Dipper with his sudden aggressive tone.

He looks back down at his hand, formulating a plan.

_I can use_ Sky Iris _to bring out Odd-Eyes finally but…as long as Constellar Pleiades is out Odd-Eyes would likely just get sent back to my hand…_ he glances at Hip Hippo _if my scales were large enough I could Pendulum summon Hip Hippo_ with _Odd-Eyes and use its ability to re-summon Odd-Eyes but…_

He stared up at his Magicians. Unfortunately, Hip Hippo was level 3, his scales were 5 – 8 so that plan wouldn’t work. Ugh, he couldn’t think straight now. This _always_ happened when he was upset like this.

He either duelled really, _really_ well or he couldn’t think straight enough to even formulate some kind of strategy…

What was he going to do?

_Okay, okay. First let’s deal with_ getting _Odd-Eyes._

“I activate the Field Spell Sky Iris!” Yuya announces.

A huge aurora like effect appears in the sky where his Pendulum scale was set, giving a beautiful effect alongside the swinging Pendulum.

“Then I normal summon Performapal Hip Hippo to my field!”

**Performapal Hip Hippo – [Level 3 – EARTH – Beast/Effect – ATK: 800/DEF: 800]**

“A lame little hippo again?” Dipper asked.

Yuya holds out another monster in his hand.

“Hip Hippo won’t be alone in his act, co-staring thanks to her special ability is _Performapal Helpprincess!_ ” Yuya announces “And she really will help, since I can special summon her whenever I summon any Performapal monster! Next the effect of Sky Iris activates!”

**Performapal Helpprincess – [Level 4 – DARK – Warrior/Effect – ATK: 1200/DEF: 1200]**

“And it does… _What?_ ”

“Clearly, you’re too lazy to read aren’t you?” Yuya replies “Once per turn I can destroy one face up card I control and add an ‘Odd-Eyes’ card from my deck to my hand! So Hip Hippo will pull a disappearing act!”

Hip Hippo tipped its top hat before bursting into pixels, Yuya’s deck slid the card out for him then reshuffled once he’d grabbed it. He revealed the card to Dipper before sliding into his hand.

“Obviously, I chose to add Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to my hand”

“You’re going to summon it, so hurry up!” Dipper says smirking “I want this duel over with”

Yuya gritted his teeth, looking down at Odd-Eyes.

_I_ am _going to bring you out but…I’m not sure how to_ keep _you out yet…_

A growl echoed in his mind, he sighed at his dragon’s impatience.

_Unless you want to be returned to my hand before you can even stretch your legs give me a second to think this through…_

Yuya shut his eyes trying to think through the situation, thus he didn’t notice what Dipper did.

_What’s going on…?_ Dipper thought to himself, was it just him or was one of Yuya’s cards…giving off this…glow?

He shook his head, of course not. It was probably just a trick of the light.

“Hurry up Yuya, you’re running out of time”

“I know, I know” Yuya muttered. He sighed, he couldn’t hold off making his turn. He only had a set amount of time to make his turn…

“Alright” he opened his eyes and immediately found them locked onto Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon as it gave off a soft glow “…Odd-Eyes…?”

\----------------------------------------

The dark duelist watched with progressively increasing irritation.

“This duelist is a disgrace to Xyz users behaving the way he is…”

His dragon very quickly voiced its agreement, causing him to chuckle faintly as he glanced down at his card.

“Glad you agree.” The duelist had to admit, even from here _outside_ the building where the things he was hearing from the duel were muffled to a degree…he could feel Yuya’s anger.

It was completely justified too, if what he’d gathered was correct then Yuya was being mistreated and bullied for the disappearance of his father…which is despicable. It was as if no one from LID had any empathy and that just made the dark duelist’s blood boil.

Dark Rebellion’s angry snarl echoed in his mind and he chuckled awkwardly, staring at the monster.

“You’re angry too aren’t you…?” he glances back at Yuya “He’s really on edge now, there’s no way he’ll find away around this Dipper kid’s strategy while he’s all riled up like that…part of me kinda wants to help him…”

He noticed something odd from the corner of his eye, he turned back to his card and saw that Dark Rebellion was giving off a soft glow. The duelist’s eyes widened in surprise.

“D-Dark Rebellion…? What’s going on?”

The dark duelist found the glow growing brighter…or maybe his surroundings were growing darker…? He couldn’t be sure; all he knew is that he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and he could hear Dipper’s voice far clearer than before.

_“Hurry up Yuya, you’re running out of time”_

The duelist gritted his teeth in irritation.

“I know, I know…” he muttered then blinked in surprise “Wait… _I_ know?”

\---------------------------------------------------------

Declan had followed his mother to You Show, sitting in the main room watching the duels via the tv. He couldn’t help but be just the slightest bit concerned for Yuya and the slightest bit irritated with Dipper. His insults and taunting weren’t just there to mock Yuya but to mock Yusho too…and Declan hated that.

He suddenly heard his duel disk ringing with a message and sighed as he answered it.

“Yes?”

_“Sorry Mr. President, but we just received another one of those envelopes”_

“Another one…?”

Declan stood up, going to the exit.

_“Yes sir”_

“Who is it this time?”

_“Professor Marco…”_

“Head teacher of the fusion course…?” Declan echoed “Unsurprising…did you detect Xyz summoning signals in the city?”

_“Yes sir. We’ve already tracked it to an alleyway about fifteen minutes from the LID building”_

“Alright, send someone to investigate the area. I’ll return to my office immediately”

_“One last thing Sir. This time…the envelope had a message in it, directed at you. I’ll leave it on your desk for when you return”_

“Good.”

Declan ended the conversation and headed out. As much as he wanted to stay and ensure that his mother didn’t do what she said she was going to this situation required his full attention.

\-----------------------------------------

Since when had he been _inside_ the building?

He was outside wasn’t he? Why then did he feel like he was looking Dipper O’Rion in the eyes?

_Wait…I have to make a move, if I don’t my turn will automatically end. I’d be practically giving Dipper the win!_

He quickly glanced down at his cards then a thought occurred and he tapped the arrow the revealed what was in his Extra Deck…

_Stargazer…? Stargazer!_ It clicked in that instance, how he could counter Dipper’s moves.

“Thanks to my already set Pendulum Scales, I summon any number of monsters between the levels of 5 and 8 all at the same time!” the words left his lips before he could even think, as if he already knew what to do even though he didn’t have a clue what ‘Pendulum’ even was “Swing far Pendulum! Carve the Arc of victory! My monsters are ready – To Swing into action!”

A portal opened up revealing two lights. This time, the words he spoke were his own.

“First, returning from the extra deck is Stargazer Magician!” He announces “then, to join him on the frontlines is the powerful Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

**Stargazer Magician – [Level 5 – Scale 1 – DARK – Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect – ATK: 1200/DEF: 2400]**

**Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon – [Level 7 – Scale 4 – DARK – Dragon/Pendulum/Effect – ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000]**

Dipper raised an eyebrow, Yuya’s eyes were narrowed into a strangely out of character glare and the kind of introduction he gave his monsters wasn’t quite how he usually introduced them.

“I activate Constellar Pleiades’ special ability!” Dipper announces as the second yellow light burst into pixels “By using one overlay unit I can send your Odd-Eyes back to your hand”

**[Pleiades OU: 1 - > 0]**

Yuya stared at him seemingly unaffected…

\----------------------------------------------------------------

Outside, the dark duelist was standing there leaning against the wall of the building as he had been…but he wasn’t watching the duel anymore. Just staring intently at Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon.

Dipper’s voice echoed around him.

_“So much for your powerful dragon Yuya”_

The duelist smirked slightly.

“You call yourself an Xyz summoner, yet you forget your own summoning method’s greatest weakness. Without Overlay Units they can’t activate their special abilities and _you_ just used up your last one on Pleiades”

_“So what? Odd-Eyes is still out of play until the next turn!”_ Dipper announces, _“You’ve already done your normal and Pendulum summons for the turn!”_

“Pathetic. For an LID student you’ve really underestimated me” He replies holding a hand out “Stargazer Magician’s special ability activates! When one Pendulum Monster I control is returned to my hand I can special summon another monster in my hand with the same name!”

\--------------------------------------------------------------

Dipper took a shocked step back.

“Oh no…”

“You look worried Dipper” Yuya says confidently “You should be, because it means I can pretty well just summon Odd-Eyes right back! Return Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

Stargazer glowed brightly and a flash of blue light revealed Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. It let out an irritated roar.

“I know Odd-Eyes” Yuya says “You’re not happy with how Dipper underestimated us either are you?”

The Dragon huffed irritably, nodding at him. Yuya just narrowed his eyes, locking his glare on Dipper.

\--------------------------------------------------------

The duelist inhaled slowly before loudly proclaiming:

“Battle Phase! First the Pendulum ability of Performapal Safety Magician Activates! Safety Magician’s effect allows my Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to attack all of your special summoned monsters once!” he held his hand out “Now! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Constellar Pleiades!”

_“Praesepe’s effect activates! By using one overlay unit I can increase Pleiades’ attack by 1000! So now, your Odd-Eyes is going to the scrap heap and you’re going to run out of life points!”_

The duelists eyes widened, wait, there was no way he could –

_An action card!_

He found his eyes moving to his right, in the strange, unnatural darkness he’d found himself in he could see it. A card laying on the ground…an…Action Card? What was that?

It didn’t matter really, because he could see himself moving closer, or feel it? He wasn’t sure…

\---------------------------------------------------------

Yuya leapt forward, grabbing the action card and sliding it into his duel disk. No need to even question what it did, this may not be his signature field but he could tell from just a glance what each action card was likely to do.

“Action spell! _Twinkle Comet!_ ” He shouts, a hologram of the card appearing. Now it was active, Yuya took the chance to read its effect to Dipper “It decreases your monster’s attack points by 1000! Of course, being that this is _your_ signature field, I figure you knew that already?”

**[Pleiades ATK: 3500 - > 2500]**

“Well, both our monsters will be destroyed then!” Dipper announces, still looking rather smug.

Yuya nods a little, as Odd-Eyes leaps into the air for its attack. His eyes dart around for another action card, seeing one just above him on a fancy looking building. Like something from Ancient Greece or Rome.

But he wasn’t that good, he couldn’t just _backflip_ onto that in time to get the action card! Hell, he didn’t think he could even get up there. It was too high a jump.

_I can do it!_

His body moved before he could even process he _was_ moving. He leapt up onto the roof of the building lightning fast, spotting the card. He quickly swiped it up then slid it into his duel disk, not announcing that he’d activated it straight away.

“Action Spell: _Shooting Star!_ Increases my Odd-Eyes’ Attack points by 500!” He announces “Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon is now stronger than your Constellar Pleiades”

Dipper’s eyes widened and he turned to grab an action card.

The duelist glares him down.

“Of course…” he mutters “After how much he was mocking me, calling me a coward for running he decides he’s going to run after an action card now…”

He smirked a little, a devious idea coming to mind. He looked a little to his left, seeing Stargazer Magician awaiting his duelist’s next command.

“Shall we teach this pathetic excuse for a duelist a lesson Stargazer Magician?”

The magician looks over, nodding before it flies off towards Dipper. The duelist smirks, knowing Dipper wouldn’t be allowed to get near one. Stargazer lands in front of Dipper, the duelist grits his teeth and turns to head to another card.

“Helpprincess”

The mere utterance of her name got the monster moving, she landed in front of him. Dipper was now blocked from either action card and Pleiades was in trouble.

“Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!” Yuya announces, his voice laced with an edge it didn’t usually have “Wipe Pleiades out! **Spiral Flame Strike!** ”

The aftermath of the attack sent Dipper flying back as Stargazer and Helpprincess landed at Yuya’s side.

**_Dipper O’rion  
_ ** _LP: 3500_

Dipper groaned, forcing himself to his feet. That had hit surprisingly hard for a hologram. Even a solid vision one.

“Odd-Eyes, now set your sights on Constellar Praesepe!”

The dragon roared in agreement, charging forward and unleashing another powerful blast that destroyed Praesepe, shooting _through_ the monster to strike right in front of Dipper and send him skidding backwards.

Yuya then nods to his other two monsters.

**_Dipper O’Rion  
_ ** _LP: 2900_

“Stargazer Magician and Performapal Helpprincess will attack you directly for a total of 2400 points of damage!”

The two monsters nodded to each other and raced forward, both nearly hitting Dipper with their attacks. The startled Xyz user could do nothing more than stare at his opponent.

**_Dipper O’Rion  
_ ** _LP: 500_

“Wait a second!” Ally’s voice echoed from the Observation room; the two duelists looked over. Yuya tilting his head in confusion.

“Something wrong Ally?”

“Odd-Eyes is supposed to deal double damage but it didn’t!”

Yuya chuckles softly and then speaks up.

“Odd-Eyes’ effect only works on monsters’ level 5 or above, Xyz monsters have Ranks not levels. Its their greatest strength, level-based effects won’t work on them.” His eyes shift back to Dipper “of course, even a strength can become a weakness if exploited by the right person.”

His opponent looked concerned, Yuya was constantly shifting behaviour, dueling style, mannerisms and speech patterns. Dipper was confused if it was _actually_ Yuya Sakaki he was dueling right now.

“I end my turn” Yuya says.

Dipper gritted his teeth, drawing his next card.

“And I’ll end you _this turn_!”

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Declan frowned, adjusting his glasses.

“Quite the threat…”

His assistant nodded.

“Its safe to assume that the Xyzians consider us enemies”

Declan hums, looking back down at the threat then to his computer. He taps a few things, pulling up camera footage from around Paradise city. After a minute he responds.

“Well, one of them does. I believe the other may be unsure”

“Uh…sir?”

Declan turns the computer around.

“The smaller one, he’s the one who duelled Sylvio. And since then, it appears he’s done nothing more than observe the city. His comrade is the one doing all the attacking.” Then he turns the computer back his way and looks around the footage to try and find the dark duelist “oh…intriguing…”

“Intriguing sir? What is it?”

Declan frowned, staring at the footage.

It was from a camera set up close to the You Show duel school, facing the back of the school…there he could see the smaller Xyz user leaned against the building. Declan was inclined to believe he was watching the duels, but at the moment he was just staring intently at a card that…much to Declan’s surprise, was giving off a glow.

Curious Declan turned the sound up, wondering if it would even pick up anything.

_“You call me a coward Dipper, but you’re the one hiding behind Pleiades’ protective effects. You rely on it so much you brought a_ second _one out after losing the first”_

“What…?” The assistant mutters.

“At this moment, Yuya is still dueling Dipper O’Rion and his Constellar deck…but this duelist – who must have been observing the duels at some point – isn’t even looking now, how could he possibly know what exactly is going on?” Declan says, really just to voice his thought process “And why is he acting as if he’s _speaking directly to Dipper?_ ”

\----------------------------------------------------

“Using Pleiades I can send Odd-Eyes back to your hand Yuya!”

**[Pleiades OU: 2 - > 1]**

Yuya huffs, sliding Odd-Eyes back into his hand.

_I still have Helpprincess and Stargazer…but if he successfully deals damage from attacking either of them…I’ll lose._

Yuya’s eyes darted around, scanning for an action card that might help him and a route to get it that wouldn’t immediately alert Dipper to the fact that he already knew its location…

_This…field…its so distracting, how does anyone find anything on Action fields?_

The thought entered his mind and for a brief second part of him was confused. Of course, it was distracting, that was all part of the fun and he knew that. Then his eyes fell on a card, a good distance away.

He mapped out a path to the card in his head, which for Yuya is usually a quick and easy task he doesn’t even need to think about, but it appeared that for one reason or another he couldn’t quite focus on that.

Maybe it was Dipper…especially since he had managed two Xyz monsters out. Pleiades and Hyades. Stupid spell cards, at the very least. Hyades couldn’t attack this turn and didn’t have any overlay units.

**Constellar Hyades – [Rank 3 – LIGHT – Beast-Warrior/Xyz/Effect – ATK: 1900/DEF: 1100 – OU: 0]**

Then again, it might’ve been what Dipper said _next_.

“Now! I can use Pleiades as an Xyz material to summon a new monster!” Yuya found his eyes focusing on what Dipper was doing.

The words that slipped from his mouth this time felt incredibly foreign.

“A Rank-Up Xyz Evolution?” he questioned, before blinking in confusion and muttering “What’s…that?”

“I’m impressed you know what a Rank-Up is Yuya, but no, that’s not this!”

Pleiades turned into a yellow light that shot into the vortex opening up beneath him. Yuya forced himself to refocus on that action card, why was this so difficult today!?

“From above rain down your dazzling light, so much that the stars could never outshine you! **I Xyz Summon!** Rank 6! _Constellar Ptolemy M7_!”

**Constellar Ptolemy M7 – [Rank 6 – LIGHT – Machine/Xyz/Effect – ATK: 2700/DEF: 2000 – OU: 2]**

The huge monster made itself know, rising from the light that exploded from the vortex. Its whole body glimmering in a Typical Constellar fashion. Yuya took an unconscious step back…this thing was HUGE.

“Now, I can add _another_ card to my hand because of Constellar Star Chart!” Dipper smirks “Perfect, the spell card _Constellar Re-charting_! I can target Constellar Ptolemy M7 and allow two attacks this turn! Battle phase!”

Yuya was staring at the monster, completely frozen in place. Giant things like that had never scared him before, hell, he _wasn’t_ scared…was he? Something was really weird…his head pounded a little and images flashed through his mind so fast he couldn’t quite catch them…but whatever it was, it had to be the reason he couldn’t find the strength to move.

His eyes dart to the action card.

_Its right there! I can reach it! I just need to move!_

“Constellar Ptolemy M7! Attack Stargazer Magician!”

Yuya gritted his, shutting his eyes preparing for the attack that would wipe out his life points when…

“Yuya Sakaki!” Zuzu’s voice echoed “ _Get moving!_ ”

Yuya’s eyes widened and something overpowered how freaked out his mind seemed to be, he turns and rushes towards the action card leaping forward and swiping it. He rolled to his feet sliding it in.

“I play the action card Evasion! Meaning Stargazer is safe and so are my life points!”

“From the first attack! Ptolemy, attack Performapal Helpprincess this time!”

Yuya’s eyes darted around, before he spotted a path laid out before him to reach another – hopefully helpful – action card. But he’d have to move quick…

He ran forward leaping up a couple platforms before flipping forward onto the top one and swiping the action card loudly declaring:

“Action Spell! _Nebula!_ I take no battle damage from this attack!”

Dipper huffed.

“Fine then, at least you’re a monster down. I end my turn”

Yuya draws and looks down at his hand, there has to be some kind of advantage he has here…some way to win. Dipper only had 500 life points left…

_Wait…_ Magical Star Illusion… _that might…_ he looked up at Constellar Ptolemy M7, wouldn’t Dipper’s monster benefit too? _No, they wouldn’t…Ranks. Not Levels…its their greatest strength and in this case, their greatest weakness…_

“First off I normal summon, Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn from my hand!” Yuya announces “When Odd-Eyes Unicorn is normal or Special Summoned I can choose 1 ‘performapal’ monster in my graveyard and increase my Life points by its attack points! Thanks to you sending Helpprincess there last turn I gain 1200 life points!”

**Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn – [Level 1 – Scale 8 – LIGHT – Beast/Pendulum/Effect – ATK: 100/DEF: 600]**

**_Yuya Sakaki  
_ ** _LP: 1300_

“Next up, I use the spell card Magical Star Illusion!” Yuya smirks widely before clearing his throat “ _Ladies and gentleman!”_

The lights in the field go off, before spotlights appearing swirling around the field erratically. Dipper grits his teeth looking around.

“What’s going on?”

“Only the _greatest_ comeback you’ve ever witnessed my friend!” Yuya chuckles “Magical Star Illusion is an amazing card, both of us have to add up the total levels of all the monsters on our fields and then our totals are added to all of our monster’s attack points times 100”

Dipper raised an eyebrow. Looking between Hyades and Pleiades. He already knew what Yuya had done. Frederick suddenly called out.

“Yuya! That helps Dipper too!”

“Yeah” Ally adds “He’ll use that boost!”

“No he won’t” Sora mutters “Because Yuya used the Xyz monster’s uniqueness against them”

Confused murmurs echoed from the observation room and Yuya chuckled.

“The Audience shouldn’t remain confused, Xyz monsters have _ranks_ remember, level-based effects don’t work on them. Meaning Dipper’s monsters won’t get any boost at all whereas my monsters are boosted by a total of 13 times 100!” He declares before chuckling and nodding to Odd-Eyes “Odd-Eyes will be the one to call curtains on this show, with 2500 attack points currently thanks to Magical Star Illusion his attack rises to 3800!!”

“Oh…no” Dipper muttered.

Yuya nods.

“Yep” he climbs onto Odd-Eyes’ back, his eyes narrowing “Odd-Eyes, light up your dual-coloured eyes and lay waste to our opponent! **Spiral Flame Strike!** ”

For a moment, Dipper blinked in confusion swearing he could hear a second voice echoing that phrase, but he didn’t have time to think on it long.

The attack surged, overwhelming Constellar Ptolemy M7. The explosion caused by this attack sent Dipper flying backwards and even hitting the wall of the duel arena. Odd-Eyes landed on the ground, lowering its head for its duelist to climb off as Dipper’s life points dropped.

**_Dipper O’Rion  
_ ** _LP: 0_

**_Winner: Yuya Sakaki_ **

Yuya stood there staring at Dipper as the other duelist laid on the floor stunned by the strange ferocity and…realism in that attack. Loud cheers echoed from the Observation room as Skip proudly declared:

_“That’s You Show: 1 and LID: 0!”_ He laughs _“Great Job Yuya!”_

Yuya blinked a little, shaking his head and clearing his thoughts. He stared at Dipper a little longer, before muttering.

“I won…?”

He obviously _knew_ he’d won. He recalled the entire duel; he just felt a little displaced from himself the whole time and now was a little confused. He groaned, rubbing his head.

_Glad that’s over._

He frowns, glancing toward the observation room and the angry expression on Henrietta Akaba’s face…

_Still, two more duels to go and I have a feeling that we’ve not even seen the best of what LID has to offer yet…_

\-----------------------------------------

The duelist blinked as the world came back into focus, the glow gone from Dark Rebellion. He looked around in confusion, then back down at the card. His memory of the last…fifteen minutes or so was a bit of a blur…

“Was I…dueling?” he shook his head “No, that was Yuya…so then..."

He stared back at the building, concern building up inside him.

"Why did It feel like _I_ was on that action field…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! So, the next match-up is going to be SLIGHTLY different from the original. I'm looking forward to writing it! Still planning out the duel first before I actually get into writing the episode though. 
> 
> And yes! Yuya and Yuto Synchronized, because I always thought that synching thing was freaking awesome! Though, I was really unsure about how to write that lol I was like “Do I switch POV a lot? Or just stick to one and hope it comes across that they’re both technically dueling?” I was so confused for so long XD
> 
> Oh well, practice makes perfect.
> 
> Hopefully you all enjoyed!
> 
> \-------------------------------
> 
> Dipper’s Custom Cards:
> 
> Constellar Scorpio [Level 4 – Light – Warrior/Effect: When this card is normal summoned special summon 1 ‘Constellar’ monster from your deck that’s level 4 or lower. ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200]
> 
> Constellar Re-Charting [Spell – Quick-play – Target 1 constellar monster you control, that monster can make two attacks this battle phase]
> 
> \----
> 
> Yuya’s Custom Cards:
> 
> Performapal Danger Magician [Level 5 – Scale 9 – Fire – Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect:  
> Normal: When this card is Pendulum Summoned, negate the effect of one spell or trap on your opponent’s field. You may choose 1 monster on your field and lower its defence points by 1000, in return that monster may make two attacks this battle phase.  
> Pendulum Effect: Select one “Odd-Eyes”, “Performapal” or “Magician” monster on your field and that target cannot be destroyed by battle or card effect until the end of your next turn. This card can switch places with any “Magician” monster on your field. {ATK: 2000/DEF: 100}]
> 
> \----
> 
> Custom Action Cards:
> 
> Shooting Star [Action Spell – Increases the attack points of one your monsters by 500]
> 
> Nebula [Action Spell – Negates any battle damage from the destruction of one monster this turn]
> 
> (I think that's them all lol)


	10. Scale 10 - Sparkles, Scares and Retribution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuya managed to pull out a rather miraculous win against Dipper O'rion, LID's top Youth Division Xyz summoner. Their next opponent is going to be Julia Krystal, the top Fusion user. Meanwhile, Shay instigates a duel with two of Sylvio's three stooges, Ootomo and Yamabe! This can only end badly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, today I did something ambitious XD I wrote TWO fully original duels in one episode. Hopefully they turned out well I ended up splitting them between two chapters because oh god the episode would be too long otherwise XD

Dipper and Yuya returned to the observation room, Yuya getting full on tackled to the ground by the three youngest students of You Show.

“Yuya! That was awesome!” Ally shouted excitedly.

“You wiped the floor with Dipper!” Tate adds.

“Ya, it gave me the goose-pickles!” Frederick chuckles, Sora blinks in confusion.

“The what…?” he looks at Zuzu “What’s he talking about?’

“It’s just Frederick being Frederick, it means he got goose-bumps.” she replies before turning her focus on Yuya “That was amazing Yuya!”

Yuya chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Thanks guys, though it wasn’t _that_ impressive”

“Yuya, Gong’s not been this happy since his birthday!” Gong announces, “Now You Show just needs one more win to mean it’s safe!”

“Well that won’t be happening”

They turned to see Julia stepping forward, while Henrietta admonished Dipper for his loss. She put a hand on her hip, eyeing the others.

“So, who’s going to battle me?” she asks, her eyes falling on Sora “Feel like backing up that big talk from earlier kid?”

Sora hummed in thought, biting into his lollipop. He noticed Henrietta looking at him suspiciously and made his decision.

“Fine whatever” he replies “Let’s go”

He had no intention of dueling seriously, or even winning really. No need to show LID _everything_ he’s capable of. So instead, he’d just…surprise them a little. He was sure Zuzu could manage a win against that Synchro kid.

The two headed out into the duel area while Zuzu glanced over at Yuya, she stared at him in silence as he yelled words of encouragement to Sora.

_For a minute there…Yuya was dueling almost exactly like that strange duelist…_ she fiddled with her bracelet. She _knew_ Yuya and the other guy weren’t the same person. They literally couldn’t be…sure they _looked_ similar but…the personality, the dueling style, their colours…

And now he seemed like good old Yuya again…but still…

During the duel, Yuya’s tone had dropped into a lower one, with an edge that Zuzu had never heard from him before. A similar edge to that dark duelist. Plus there were times that dueltaining wasn’t present at all, even to the point of summoning his monsters differently.

She had never heard him replace ‘turn up the heat’ with anything like what he said during the duel and the way he moved, yeah Yuya was an acrobat for sure, he was a Dueltainer it was kinda in the job description. But even Yuya couldn’t pull off some of the moves he did during the duel.

The more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t help but see the _other_ _duelist_ in Yuya’s place. Yuya seemed to realise she’d been staring and looked at her, eyebrow raised.

“Zuzu? What’s up?”

Zuzu inhaled sharply and numerous thoughts danced through her mind as she tried to excuse her staring.

“Uhm, nothing, nothing! Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare I just…”

“Are you alright?” Yuya asked, concern filling his eyes.

Zuzu opened her mouth to respond before the memory of her encounter with the other duelist shot through her head.

~~

_The low tone of the dark duelist reciting his next monster’s chant, the emotion burning within his voice._

_“Cloaked in shadows and relentless in its objectives! I call upon the most dangerous of dragons! **I Xyz Summon!** ”_

_The lightning and wind of the Overlay Network, whipping around causing the debris in the warehouse to fly around all over the place. The light exploding as the huge black dragon appeared with a ferocious roar._

_The duelist declaring his monster’s name, to which the dragon responded and its unrelenting power sending more debris flying towards her. Then suddenly, the duelist was holding her tightly, protecting her._

_“Are you alright?” his grey eyes staring at her with concern, barely masked by his now damaged goggles._

~~ 

“Zuzu?”

She shook her head before responding.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Sorry, I’m just concerned about this duel”

Yuya smiles, one of those smiles she knows all too well. He was concerned too, more than concerned, probably panicked but he was trying to appear strong. A deception tactic he had mastered and that fooled almost everyone minus Zuzu, Yoko and occasionally Gong.

“Don’t worry” Yuya turns back to the window facing the duel arena “I know for sure Sora can win this, I can feel it”

“Well, if you can feel it, you’re probably right” Zuzu replies, facing the window herself.

For now, she had to stay focused. She would be up to duel next against that Synchro Summoner and she hardly knew a thing about Synchro summoning. If Sora loses this match she has more pressure on her…but if Sora wins she can relax. Two victories and the school is safe…

She gritted her teeth.

_You’d better win Sora…_

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Shay moved silently across the rooftops, he’d delivered his little threat to LID and had decided it was time he catch up with his friend. But upon heading to the warehouse they were hiding out in, he’d found no sign of him.

“Guess he’s still out” Shay glanced down at his duel disk; he _could_ just message him but maybe it’d be better not to. His friend could be doing something that requires silence…”guess I’ll look around, shouldn’t be that hard to find him”

At least he had hoped so. Paradise city was _huge_. As big as his city probably, finding his ally was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Wait…what was that? He noticed two duelists, about his age, running down the street. What caught his attention the most though was the two pins on them…

_More LID students…? Perfect…_

He chased after them listening into their loud conversations.

“Hurry up Yamabe! If we don’t get to You Show soon, we’ll miss Madam Chairwoman getting pay back for Sylvio!”

“I know I know. Jeez, give me a break Ootomo!” Yamabe stopped for a second, looking down a backstreet way “This way, we can avoid waiting on the traffic!”

“Oh, great idea!”

Shay smirked, following them till they were sufficiently away from other people. He leapt down into the darkness behind them, the sound causing the two teens to turn in surprise. Ootomo looked around nervously.

“Did you hear that…?”

“You’re…You’re probably just imagining things Ootomo…”

“Oh he’s not” Shay replies, stepping out and glaring the two down through his glasses “So…you’re both LID Students…right?”

“What of it?” Yamabe demanded.

Shay set up his duel disk, the two teens sharing looks as they recognised the style duel disk Shay was using. Ootomo took a step forward.

“So Yuya goes and attacks Sylvio and now you’re attacking us? You must some friend of his right!?”

Shay tilted his head. Yuya was the name Yuto had been called right…? He supposed these duelists hadn’t realised they’d misidentified Sylvio Sawatari’s attacker. No matter though.

“I challenge you. Both of you”

Yamabe raised an eyebrow.

“Both of us…? At _once_?” He asks in disbelief “You _do_ realise that you’re at a disadvantage right…?”

“Hardly” Shay replies “Now arm yourselves!”

Yamabe and Ootomo glanced at each other before shrugging and setting their own duel disks.

“ **Let’s Duel!** ” The three shouted.

**_Yamabe  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

**_Ootomo  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

**_Shay Obsidian  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

Yamabe smirked.

“I’ll go first! I summon _Defender of Nephthys!_ ”

**Defender of Nephthys – [Level 2 – WIND – Spellcaster/Effect – ATK: 300/DEF: 1200]**

“Its effect activates, I can destroy a card in my hand and special summon another level 4 or lower ‘Nephthys’ monster from my hand as long as it’s not another Defender of Nephthys. So…” Yamabe takes a card from his hand and slides into his duel disk “I destroy _Metaphys Factor_ to special summon _Chronicler of Nephthys_ in defence position!”

**Chronicler of Nephthys – [Level 2 – WIND – Spellcaster/Effect – ATK: 300/DEF: 1200]**

Yamabe nods to Ootomo.

“I end my turn, over to you Ootomo”

His friend nods then holds a card out from his hand.

“I activate the spell card _The Terminus of the Burning Abyss_! I can fusion summon any ‘Burning Abyss’ monster from my extra deck, using monsters in my hand or field as materials!” he holds out three more cards “So I fuse, _Alich Malebranche of the Burning Abyss! Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss! And Raiga, Tamer of the Burning Abyss!”_

Shay grits his teeth.

_Fusion…he’s a fusion summoner…_

Three lights appear in the sky behind Ootomo as he stretches his arms out and they swirl together.

“The great abyss gave birth to these three fiends and now, merging their ancient powers, they give birth to a holier creature, a master of the abyss! **I Fusion Summon!** ” He clasps his hands together tightly “ _Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss!”_

**Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss – [Level 9 – LIGHT – Fairy/Fusion/Effect – ATK: 2600/DEF: 2500]**

“Dante can’t be targeted by your card effects, so good luck getting rid of it that way”

Shay tilts his head thoughtfully, _so I can’t use Rise Falcon to take it out in one hit…still…everything in my hand is screaming to summon it…_ he scans through his hand then smirks _oh…oh I get it…I know what you want me to do…_

“Heh, well we shall see if your monster is as powerful as you think” he holds out a card from his hand “I summon Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius!”

**Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius – [Level 4 – DARK – Winged Beast/Effect – ATK: 1300/DEF: 1600]**

“Next, I can use its special ability, allowing me to bring _Raidraptor – Booster Strix_ to the frontlines!”

**Raidraptor – Booster Strix – [Level 4 – DARK – Winged Beast/Effect – ATK: 100/DEF: 1700)**

Shay then holds out a third card, before slamming onto his duel disk.

“Next up, I’m special summoning Raidraptor – Fuzzy Lanius due its own special ability! After all, birds of a feather, flock together. Isn’t that how the saying goes?”

**Raidraptor – Fuzzy Lanius – [Level 4 – DARK – Winged Beast/Effect – ATK: 500/DEF: 1500]**

“However, these three aren’t staying separate long, they work better united! I overlay my three level 4 Raidraptors in order to build the overlay network!”

The three monsters on his field turned into purple lights that swirled into the huge vortex beneath him. The light within the vortex of energy radiated uncontrollably, awaiting the chant that would bring forth Shay’s monster.

Yamabe and Ootomo shared concerned looks, unable to believe that once again the duel was _very real._ The wind and dust swirling up around them because of the vortex was proof enough.

“There isn’t an action field, this shouldn’t even be possible!” Ootomo muttered.

“I know…its really beginning to freak me out!”

Shay ignored their panic, holding his hand out to the vortex.

“From the shadows, the falcon soars on wings of courage! It’s talons ready for the rebellion! **I Xyz Summon!** ”

The light explodes, shooting right into the sky and huge wings cut through the light.

With a powerful and threatening screech Shay’s Xyz monster made itself known, descending with such speed that the two teens were concerned it was going to hit them or something.

“Witness my Raidraptor – Rise Falcon!”

**Raidraptor – Rise Falcon – [Rank 4 – DARK – Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect – ATK: 100/DEF: 2000 – OU: 3]**

Ootomo quickly fumbled about, reading the new monster’s effect on his duel disk before sighing in relief.

“Hah, it has 100 attack points and even if it _can_ attack all our special summoned monsters it can’t use its ability on Dante because Dante can’t be targeted for card effects. You messed up summoning that thing in attack mode”

Shay didn’t even react, he just took another card from his hand and held it out.

“I equip Raidraptor – Rise Falcon with the spell _Raptor’s Ultimate Mace_! Sometimes, even a natural predator needs a weapon and this card is perfect! It gives my Falcon 1000 more attack points!

**[Rise Falcon – ATK: 100 - > 1100]**

“I’m not done yet though, you forgot Fusioner. Your ally there has a special summoned monster too and its _not_ immune to my Falcon’s effects…so. I detach one overlay unit! By doing so, it can steal Chronicler of Nephthys’ attack points. It might not be a huge boost but 300 is still a welcome one!”

**[Rise Falcon OU 3 - > 2 – ATK: 1100 -> 1400]**

“Just you wait till I can attack, none of your monsters will survive. My falcons will wipe them all out and then turn on you!”

His falcon screeched in agreement. Yamabe and Ootomo gasped at the shockwaves the mere _sound_ of that monster gave off.

“…This is crazy…” Yamabe muttered “Look at that thing, it’s actually _real_ …just like against Sylvio…”

Ootomo nodded, swallowing down his nerves as best as he could.

“…If that thing hits us…”

“I see you realise what you’ll be faced with soon enough.” He glances at Ootomo “Just so you know, I’m aiming to destroy _you_ first. Fusion Freak”

Ootomo looked confused briefly, shooting a look to Yamabe before his gaze returned to Shay.

_What does this guy have against Fusion Summoning?_

He shook his head and nodded to Yamabe. Yamabe nods back, draws and glares Shay down.

“If you wanna get to Ootomo, you’ll have to get through me first!”

Though Shay’s expression was covered by his scarf, just his body language indicated to the two teens that he was extremely confident in his victory.

“With _pleasure_ ”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

_“Alright!”_ Skip announces _“Duelists ready! The action field for this duel will be Sweets Island!”_

As the field began to materialize around them Sora frowned, he didn’t seem as excited by the field as he did the first time he was on it. Skip noticed the boy’s irritation and spoke up again.

_“Something wrong Sora?”_

Sora put a hand on his hip, looking at Julia then up to where Skip was.

“Principal Boyle, don’t you think this is making it a bit too easy for me? After all, I’ve been practicing on this field since my duel with Yuya, I know it pretty well.” He asks, before sliding a fresh lollipop into his mouth, muffling his words “I just figure, Julia is at a _huge_ disadvantage against me. Why don’t we let _her_ pick her favourite field? Even out the playing field?”

Skip blinked in confusion; a confusion shared among the other duelists watching from the observation room.

Julia gritted her teeth.

“Are you mocking me you little punk?”

Sora shot her a sideways glance.

“So, what if I am?” He shrugs “Just pick an action field before I change my mind”

“Fine. _Crystal Corridor!_ ” she yells up to Skip.

The You Show Principal shrugs then changes the action field.

_“Alright, per Sora’s request, the action field will_ instead _be Crystal Corridor!_ ”

The field materialized around them, a huge hallway of bronze, gold and crystal shimmering all over. It was so heavily polished Sora could see his face in the walls, the floor anywhere and everywhere.

He sets up his duel disk, smirking.

“Much better. Now we’re on a level playing field!”

“I can’t wait to wipe that smug smirk off your face!” Julia replies setting up her own.

“We’ll see won’t we?”

“ **Let’s Duel!** ”

**_Julia Krystal  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

**_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

“Ladies first” Sora smiles.

Julia huffs.

“ _How sweet_. It makes me sick” she holds out a card everyone immediately recognises “Well, I’m not holding back an inch Sora! I activate the spell card Polymerization to merge my _Gem-Knight Garnet_ and _Gem-Knight Iolite_ into one!”

Two lights appear behind her and she holds her hands out.

“Red Fire of Truth, Pale Blue Gem of Compassion, together your brilliance will forge a blinding new brightness! **I Fusion Summon!”** She clasped her hands together tightly “ _Gem-Knight Ruby!_ ”

**Gem-Knight Ruby – [Level 6 – EARTH – Pyro/Fusion/Effect – ATK: 2500/DEF: 1300]**

The ruby coloured stone warrior appeared, staring Sora down but the smaller boy didn’t even flinch.

“ _That’s_ your fusion summon?”

“Yeah? What about it?” Julia retorts, looking more and more irritated by the second.

Sora just shakes his head and waves his hand gesturing for Julia to continue her turn. The LID duelist can’t help but stare in utter confusion at the smug, confidence radiating off of him.

Of course, he was a You Show duelist that knew a Special Summoning method so _some_ pride and confidence was understandable, but this was beyond what she would expect.

“I set one card face down and end my turn for now”

Sora smirks, drawing his first card.

“Alright, I see your Fusion Summon and raise you… _mine_ ” he says, his tone dropping into something threatening “First, I activate _Frightfur Patchwork_ to add one ‘Edge Imp’ monster and one ‘Polymerization’ to my hand!”

Two cards pop out of his deck for him to take, before the deck shuffles itself. He then holds out Polymerization.

“I fuse Edge Imp Sabres, Fluffal Wolf and Fluffal Owl! Ally, Tate, Frederick. You three should look away”

The three kids immediately covered their eyes, knowing what was coming, Julia just tilts her head curiously.

The three monsters appear and swirl into lights as Sora stretches his hands out.

“Night-time hunter, edge of sharpness, gleaming golden eyes, when the three come together, a new beast will arise!” He clasps his hands together as the light behind him becomes blinding “ **Fusion Summon!** ”

A pale blue stuffed wolf dropped from the sky, landing limply on the floor of the corridor.

Julia stared at it in confusion for a moment, but confusion quickly turned to horror when scissors cut through its stomach, stretching its seams to their limits. Its beady blue eyes bulged, appearing lifeless. Tears appeared all over its body, its front legs appearing out of place, stuffing flying out everywhere. Its mouth opened wide enough to see in the darkness behind its sharp, dark red teeth, gleaming red eyes.

“Say hello to my _Frightfur Wolf_!”

**Frightfur Wolf – [Level 6 – DARK – Fiend/Fusion/Effect – ATK: 2000/DEF: 1500]**

Julia stared in shock. She had thought, considering the field that Skip had _initially_ picked was clearly one Sora specialized in or at least _preferred_ , that Sora would be someone who used a lot of cutesy cards.

The name ‘Fluffal’ had further confirmed her suspicions. The name ‘Edge Imp’ had thrown her off guard a little, but it didn’t sound particularly threatening…

But _this_ … _this monstrosity_ was _not_ what she had been expecting.

Sora smirked, sucking some more on his lollipop before pulling it out of his mouth to make his next words clearer.

“So…? Whaddya think?” he asks, “Pretty impressive isn’t it? Well, you haven’t even seen the best part of this little guy here yet”

_Little guy…?_ Julia questioned internally, looking between Sora and his larger, far more threatening monster, _if anything, Sora’s the little guy not that wolf…_

\------------------------------------------------

The Dark Duelist felt a cold chill go down his spine. Julia’s fusion hadn’t been particularly impressive, from that he could tell she was a Standard fusion user.

But Sora…no, there was _immense_ power in that summon. He could easily tell…

Sure, the duelist had his suspicions when Sora had noticed his presence outside earlier but that could just mean a very observant child…but this…this had to be…he turned around, not willing to _watch_ the duel anymore. Even if he was planning to continue listening.

He laid a hand on his heart as it raced, shutting his eyes tight as he took in slow breaths.

_They’re already here…of course we_ thought _they might be…but…I didn’t expect…_

Well, he didn’t expect to run into one so soon…and to think, it seemed to be playing out almost _exactly_ as it did in _his_ home. Just as it had done with Lulu…

_Zuzu and her friend…they’ve befriended him already, he’s probably always around them…if those Fusion Freaks took Lulu…what’s the odds they’ll try and kidnap Zuzu too? Is that possible?_

He shook his head a little trying to think straight. Who knows…maybe he _wanted_ it to be the case, deep down somewhere, so he could protect Zuzu instead? So he could at least _feel_ like he’d protected someone he cared about…?

Well, whatever the case was. He had to inform Shay of this, Shay had to know _now._ Maybe it would even draw his attention away from LID, if their talk the previous night didn’t already…

\----------------------------------------------------

“I activate _Rebirth of Nephthys!_ ” Yamabe announces “I cast Chronicler of Nephthys away as a sacrifice!”

A blue rune traced its way onto the ground beneath Yamabe’s feet, Chronicler of Nephthys transformed into a yellow flame and swirled its way into the glyph. The glyph lit up with flames, glowing around the duelist as he raised his hand to the sky.

“Powerful, elegant, devoted to the flames! From them, this sorceress reveals herself! **I Ritual Summon!** ” A fiery aura rose up behind him, swirling into the form of a new monster.

Shay hums, impressed. He’d never witnessed a Ritual Summon before now, even if he knew the method existed, so getting to see it in person – even if it _was_ from a Standard duelist and an LID one at that – was quite the intriguing sight.

“Introducing _Devotee of Nephthys!_ ”

**Devotee of Nephthys – [Level 2 – WIND – Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect – ATK: 1200/DEF: 1200]**

Shay stares at it closely, yes it was strong enough to take out Rise Falcon as it was but he suspected that Yamabe planned to deal more than just 100 points of damage this turn. Whatever the LID student’s plan was, Shay intended to take it then come his next turn give these two duelists just _a taste_ for the suffering they would be in for.

Yamabe holds his hand out towards his new monster.

“Devotee of Nephthys’ effect now activates! Since I Ritual Summoned it I can special summon one ‘Nephthys’ monster from my deck!” He announces, a card slides out of his deck and he takes placing it on his duel disk “So, join your fellow Nephthys, _Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys_!”

**Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys – [Level 8 – FIRE – Winged Beast/Effect – ATK: 2400/DEF: 1600]**

Shay narrowed his eyes, yeah, that would be right. 2400 attack points was more than enough to cause _serious_ damage to his Life Points and if Ootomo attacked on his next turn than it sorta looked like the two LID duelists would win…

Well, obviously, Shay didn’t plan on letting them beat him so easily.

He didn’t plan on them beating him at all.

“Battle! Devotee of Nephthys attack his Raidraptor – Rise Falcon!”

Shay didn’t even flinch as Yamabe’s monster charged forward destroying Rise Falcon in a single hit, the explosion created a real shockwave that caused the two other duelists to stumble while Shay merely tapped his duel disk and announced:

“The secondary effect of Raptor’s Ultimate Mace activates!”

“Secondary effect!?” Ootomo gasped as he recovered from the startling shockwave.

A card slid out of Shay’s deck and he took it, holding it out to reveal it to his opponents.

“When a monster equipped with Raptor’s Ultimate mace is attacked by a monster with higher ATK, I can add a ‘Rank-Up-Magic’ spell card to my hand and negate the damage from the battle”

Yamabe and Ootomo shared nervous looks, they both _knew_ what a Rank-Up-Magic card was. After all, Sylvio was an Xyz summoner. He didn’t use Rank-Up yet, but he was learning it…

Yamabe shook his head to clear his thoughts, holding his hand out again.

“Defender of Nephthys attacks you directly!”

The monster rushed forward, aiming to strike Shay. The Xyz Duelist just stared as the attack passed right through him, then huffed in disappointment.

_Pathetic…its hard to believe that my attacks used to be like that too…_

**_Shay Obsidian  
_ ** _LP: 4000 - > 2600_

“Now! Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys attack him directly!”

The Phoenix let out a screech and shot fire towards Shay, the duelist rolled his eyes, brushing part of his fringe aside.

**_Shay Obsidian  
_ ** _LP: 2600 - > 200_

“Are you done?”

Yamabe flinched, taking a step back before gritting his teeth and nodding.

“Turn over. As it’s the End Phase Devotee of Nephthys pays the price for special summoning its Phoenix ally and is destroyed.” He sighed looking at his friend “Sorry Ootomo, I was hoping to wipe him out this turn but that was the best I could manage”

“Hey, you took out almost of his life points Yamabe, don’t be sorry” Ootomo quickly drew his card “Its my turn now and I won’t waste a single second! I head right into my Battle phase! Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss attacks you directly!”

Shay watched for a moment as Ootomo’s monster heads towards him then smirked behind his scarf.

“I activate the effect of _Rank-Up-Magic Retribution Force!_ Because you attacked me directly while I had less than a thousand life points I can activate it to special summon my Rise Falcon from my graveyard in defence mode!”

A void of darkness opened in the ground, Rise Falcon flying up through it to stand between its duelist and the attack. A blue aura surrounded it indicating its status in defence mode.

**Raidraptor – Rise Falcon – [Rank 4 – DARK – Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect – ATK: 100/DEF: 2000 – OU: 0]**

“Best part is, this falcon can’t be destroyed by battle now!”

Dante bounced off the armoured falcon and returned to its duelist’s side. Ootomo huffed.

“Fine then, I end my turn”

“And with that, you’ve let me trigger the next effect of Rank-Up-Magic Retribution Force!” Shay announced, raising a hand to the sky as a vortex appeared in front of him, swirling with dangerous power “Now that your end phase has come Rise Falcon can be used to rebuild the overlay network and bring out a monster 1 rank higher!”

The falcon turned into a purple light that swirled into the air before diving straight into the vortex which began to glow with red light. Even the area around them began to darken in response to the power Shay was about to call upon…

“Terror of the skies! Predator of Blazing force! Spread your wings and conquer this battle! **_Go, Rank-Up Xyz Evolution_**!”

The light exploded up, transforming into overpowering flames that caused the other boys to cover their faces from the sheer heat it gave off.

From the fire a might bird of prey, covered in red armour revealed itself. A powerful screech creating intense shockwaves that caused Yamabe and Ootomo to nearly fall over. It swooped down from the skies, fire trailing behind it.

“Reveal yourself! _Raidraptor – Blaze Falcon!_ ”

**Raidraptor – Blaze Falcon – [Rank 5 – DARK – Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect – ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000 – OU: 2]**

“That…thing its…” Ootomo muttered.

“Even bigger than Rise Falcon…” Yamabe finished for him.

“How perceptive. Size isn’t its only advantage however, as you can see. Rank-Up-Magic Retribution Force attaches itself as an Overlay unit to Blaze Falcon and as long as my Blaze Falcon has overlay units…” his tone darkens “It can attack you directly…”

The two teens shared concerned looks.

“Firstly, those special summoned monsters are kinda getting on my nerves. So, let’s deal with them Blaze Falcon! By using one overlay unit its special ability activates!” Shay announces “I can destroy as many Special Summoned monsters you control as possible and inflict 500 points of damage to you both for every one!”

**Blaze Falcon – [OU: 2 - > 1]**

“D-Dante can’t be targeted by your card effects!” Ootomo replies quickly.

Shay just pulls up the other card in his hand, his last card. He slides it into the duel disk.

“I equip Blaze Falcon with _Raptor’s Revolt_! I can only equip this card to a Raidraptor Xyz monster, it gains 500 attack points for every Raidraptor in my graveyard and can make 1 extra attack for each Overlay unit it has.” Shay explains “and just to top it off, all card effects other than Raidraptor ones are negated the first turn its in play, meaning Dante is no longer immune to my card effects.”

**Blaze Falcon – [ATK: 1000 + 2000 (500 x 4) = ATK: 3000]**

Ootomo gasped as Dante was destroyed along with Yamabe’s Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys.

**_Ootomo  
_ ** _LP: 4000 - > 3500_

**_Yamabe  
_ ** _LP: 4000 - > 3500_

“battle phase! Raidraptor – Blaze Falcon attack Yamabe and Ootomo Directly!” he announces “ ** _Electrostatic Volt!_** ”

The Falcon let out a powerful screech as it raced towards the terrified looking teens, sending the two skidding backwards across the concrete and almost hitting the side of a building. Scorch marks trailed along the path the monster had taken, smoke rose up from the path and the two teens were covered in dust and some faint scorch marks on their uniforms.

**_Ootomo  
_ ** _LP: 3500 - > 500_

**_Yamabe:  
_ ** _LP: 3500 - > 500_

Shay scoffed at them as they groaned trying to get up.

“I was barely even trying and that was enough to knock you two down?” he sighed and snapped his fingers “Whenever Blaze Falcon deals damage to you I can select a monster you control and destroy it. So, say goodbye to Defender of Nephthys!”

The monster exploded into pixels just as Yamabe managed to stand himself up. He looked down at Ootomo.

“A-Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah…” the Fusion user forced himself to his feet, shaking “This guy…he’s impossible, there’s no way this should be dealing _real_ damage..”

“I know…Yuya…no, I’m starting to think it never was Yuya…maybe Kakimoto was right…” Yamabe gritted his teeth “Then, the other guy…all he did really was damage Sylvio’s jacket…”

“He was holding back wasn’t he…?” Ootomo muttered in response “but this Shay guy…if he really isn’t trying yet…I don’t know if I can take another hit like _that_ , let alone the kind of damage he might deal if he actually gets serious…”

“All we have to do is take out those 200 life points and we won’t have to. We have two turns to take this guy out” Yamabe decides.

Shay tilted his head, his posture relaxed and even kind of smug.

“I think that’s enough punishment for now, turn over.”

Yamabe drew a card, eyes burning with determination.

“I’ll deal with him Ootomo! This time I swear!”

\-----------------------------------------------

Ally was still covering her eyes from the summon of Frightfur Wolf.

“Can I look now? Is it safe?”

Tate nods then remembers her eyes are covered.

“Yeah, you can.”

Ally sighs in relief, looking again. Frederick shivers a little.

“Sora’s monsters seeming so cute!” he says “but then they become all scary!”

Zuzu nods slowly, before her eyes fall on Yuya. He’s just staring at Frightfur Wolf barely reacting.

“You okay Yuya?”

He doesn’t respond.

“Yuya, Yuya!”

The teen blinks suddenly, looking over at her and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Sorry…was distracted”

“You looked pretty deep in thought” She comments.

Yuya nods, looking back at the Wolf. He seemed to tense up a little.

“…I just can’t help but think about how his monsters feel…imagine being put through that…the poor Fluffals…”

Zuzu nods quietly, looking back at the duel. She agreed of course, she would hate to be poor old Fluffal Wolf right now. But of course, at the same time, they were just cards so it wasn’t as if they _actually_ felt that. That knowledge made it slightly easier for her to watch at least.

\-------------------------------------

“Alright” Sora says holding a card out from his hand “Time to show you what a _real_ master of Fusion can do! Firstly, I activate _Fusion Rejection_!”

Julia raised an eyebrow looking curious.

“Since you control a Fusion Monster, I can discard a card to return that monster to your extra deck and you can special summon the monsters you used to summon it in attack mode.” he slides a card into his duel disk.

Gem-Knight Ruby glows and splits back into Iolite and Garnet much to Julia’s shock.

**Gem-Knight Iolite – [Level 4 – EARTH – Aqua/Gemini/Effect – ATK: 1300/DEF: 2000]**

**Gem-Knight Garnet – [Level 4 – EARTH – Pyro/Normal – ATK: 1900/DEF: 0]**

Sora smirks a little, pulling his lollipop out of his mouth again and pointing it at Iolite.

“Frightfur Wolf, battle! Attack Gem-Knight Iolite!”

Julia’s eyes widened; she took a hesitant step back. She _could_ run for an action card…but…

A small shockwave resonated as Iolite was destroyed.

**_Julia Krystal  
_ ** _LP: 4000 - > 3600_

“Now you’re about to see why I love Frightfur Wolf so much Julia, it gets to attack multiple times. Based on how many monsters I used to Fusion Summon it. That’s three, so it gets three attacks”

Julia paled a little.

_He’s already down one…but at least one attack is going to be direct…_

“So, Frightfur Wolf! Turn your gaze on Gem-Knight Garnet!”

The wolf raced forward, growling as it chomped down on the Gem-Knight monster. The monster exploded into pixels, the Wolf howling proudly before its gaze turned on Julia.

**_Julia Krystal  
_ ** _LP: 3600 - > 3500_

Sora’s smirk widened as he slid the lollipop back into his mouth, resting a hand on his hip.

“Alright Frightfur Wolf” he says calmly “Attack Julia directly!”

The wolf charged straight for her, the startled Leo duelist turned to try and find an action card but was sent flying forwards.

**_Julia Krystal  
_ ** _LP: 3500 - > 1600_

She groaned, standing back up before dusting herself off.

“…you’re pretty good”

“Pretty good?” Sora echoed “Considering that I just cut down your life points by over half _and_ decimated your defences I would hope that ‘pretty good’ was upgraded to ‘amazing’”

Julia inhaled slowly, flicking her hair aside.

“Eh, I don’t know if you’re that good”

“Fine. Turn over. Let’s see if you can prove your point”

“With pleasure, draw!” She announces, she switches the card she drew for a different one in her hand “I summon _Gem-Knight Emerald_!”

**Gem-Knight Emerald – [Level 4 – EARTH – Rock/Effect – ATK: 1800/DEF: 800]**

The green warrior appeared in a flash of light, standing proudly between Julia and Sora’s wolf. The blue haired boy looked confused.

“That thing can’t stand up to my Wolf”

“Don’t underestimate me” Julia replied, “I lay this card face down and end my turn!”

Sora frowned. Drawing a card.

“I don’t plan to. I summon _Fluffal Mouse_!”

The little winged mouse appeared, squeaking in surprise when it appeared next to the Wolf. It moved away slightly, before shooting Sora a nervous look. Sora didn’t seem to notice.

**Fluffal Mouse – [Level 1 – EARTH – Fairy/Effect – ATK: 100/DEF: 100]**

“As its my main phase, Fluffal Mouse’s effect let’s me special summon up to 2 more of its little mice friends to join the fray!” two cards slid out of Sora’s deck and he played them both revealing two more Mice who were equally frightened “Next, I use _Fusion Sage_ allowing me to add Polymerization to my hand!”

A Polymerization card slid out of his deck and he held it out immediately before sliding it into his duel disk.

“I fuse my three Fluffal Mice with my Frightfur Wolf!” he announces.

The wolf and the three mice turn into glowing lights, loosing their form and swirling together. Julia gritted her teeth, what now? What was he summoning _next_?

\----------------------------------------

The dark duelist was trembling, just a little. Fusion, even just _listening_ to the duel was triggering a fire in his blood.

_Fear maybe?_

He was certainly afraid of people like Sora…he had good reason to be. But fear very rarely left _him_ trembling…

_Anger then?_

No, that didn’t sound right either. Anger reacted differently with him, even if the slight burning in his veins was extremely, _horrifyingly_ , familiar. In the end he decided it had to be a mix of both. At this rate…he would likely be better off leaving now and informing Shay…

Still, he had to know _exactly_ what this kid was capable of because he just knew, deep down, that this wouldn’t be the only time he saw him…

He would have to hold out. Deal with this terrible concoction of emotions as best as he could…

\------------------------------------------------------

Yuya frowned, clutching his Pendulum pendant.

_Again…really?_

He sighed and looked to the three younger kids.

“Guys, look away again”

Ally nods quickly practically burying her head in Zuzu’s arms, terrified of Sora’s Frightfur monsters. Tate and Frederick just covered their eyes a little, suspecting that they would be forced to just get used to this…

Zuzu and Yuya exchanged looks before they heard Sora begin his little chant. They returned their focus to the duel, watching as Sora stretched his arms out. Yuya knew they were about to witness another poor Fluffal being twisted beyond recognition, he almost didn’t think he could bare it…

As much as he would love to just tell Sora how much the poor creatures didn’t like being turned into those things, he knew Sora didn’t believe the whole ‘the cards are alive’ thing. Though that confused him beyond understanding and the thought of questioning his mother about it had been on his mind since his duel with Sora.

He should’ve asked.

He _would’ve_ asked.

Part of him just didn’t think he wanted to know the answer…

\---------------------------------------------------------------

“Flurry of mice and lonesome, deadly canine! When the four come together, you’ll have a terrible time!” He clasped his hands together “ **Fusion Summon!** Reveal yourself, my _Frightfur Sabre-Tooth!_ ”

**Frightfur Sabre-Tooth – [Level 8 – DARK – Fiend/Fusion/Effect – ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000]**

Julia took in a sharp breath as a cute stuffed animal dropped from the sky again, laying on the floor lifelessly…the silence was eerie as she – as everyone – awaited the terrible transformation that would occur.

And with a snap of Sora’s fingers…

The stuffed purple tiger’s seams _split._ Two blades tore through the top of its head, just in front of its ears and numerous more appeared all over its body, tearing through fabric, seams and stuffing as they went. Its sharp green teeth grew larger and more threatening and its pink eyes bulged out, making its appearance even more disturbing.

A sharp blade pierced right through the creature, poking out from its chest and as it let out a horrific roar, gleaming red eyes could be seen in the darkness of its mouth.

“Well…?” Sora questioned slowly, gesturing to his new monster “Impressed _now_ Julia?”

Julia shook her head quickly to get rid of her disturbed feelings and refocused on Sora.

“Just cause you make your stuffed toys a little more threatening doesn’t mean you’re a match for me Sora”

“Well…we’ll just see then… _won’t we_?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ambitious? Very, and now it must continue into a second episode 0-0 I didn’t intend that but it happened. I’m genuinely surprised with myself, there aren’t many custom cards in this first half considering. 
> 
> But then again, I was trying to avoid writing myself into holes where I needed custom cards…which I did do, once. But that’s in the second half and you might notice it next chapter who knows? XD
> 
> Please, leave your thoughts on this one, I was kinda nervous about it lol so I hope it turned out well!  
> \-----  
> Shay:  
> Rank-Up-Magic Retribution Force [Spell card – If you are attacked directly while you have less than 1000 life points you can activate this card. Special summon 1 Xyz monster from your Graveyard in face-up defence position and that card cannot be destroyed by battle. During the End Phase of this turn, Rank-up that monster into an Xyz monster that is 1 Rank higher, attach this card as an Xyz Material on that monster.]
> 
> Raptor’s Revolt [Equip Spell – Equip only to a “Raidraptor” Xyz monster. That monster gains 500 attack points for every “Raidraptor” monster in your graveyard and that card can make 1 extra attack for each Xyz Material it has. All card effects other than “Raidraptor” effects are negated the first turn this card is in play. If the monster equipped with “Raptor’s Revolt” would be destroyed by battle, destroy this card instead and negate the battle damage)  
> \--  
> Ootomo:  
> Raiga, Tamer of the Burning Abyss [Level 3 – DARK – Fiend/Normal – ATK: 1300/DEF: 300]  
> \--  
> Sora:  
> Fusion Rejection [Spell – If your opponent controls a Fusion monster you may discard one card and return that monster to the extra deck. Your opponent may special summon the materials used to perform the Fusion summon in ATK position.]  
> \--  
> Hopefully that’s all the custom cards XD


	11. Scale 11 - Being Played

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The duel between Sora and Julia is drawing quickly towards its conclusion. Meanwhile Shay continues to rain pure retribution down on Ootomo and Yamabe. It seems all three LID students have found themselves facing opponents they might not be able to conceivably beat…

**_Shay Obsidian  
_ ** _LP: 200_

_Field:_

**Raidraptor – Blaze Falcon – [Rank 5 – DARK – Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect – ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000 – OU: 1 – Equipped with Raptor’s Revolt]**

**_Ootomo  
_ ** _LP: 500_

**_Yamabe  
_ ** _LP: 500_

**\--**  
Shay stared Yamabe down, he wasn’t too concerned about whatever the teen’s next move was. While these LID Students were good duelists, they were nothing like he was. They weren’t –

_“Like I said, I duelled someone from LDS today.” The dark Duelist explains “He wasn’t exactly a warrior…and from what I’ve seen, it’s the same for all the duelists here…LDS or otherwise”_

– Shay shook his head quickly, clearing his friend’s words from his mind.

He couldn’t falter for a second. Even if some nagging part of his mind insisted that his friend was right, they weren’t warriors. They weren’t soldiers. These LID students simply weren’t trained for war…

No, he had to ignore it. Duel Academy would do anything and everything to trick them. To trick _him_ into thinking he was safe. He wouldn’t fall for it. _He wouldn’t be tricked like Lulu…_

Yamabe held out a monster before summoning it.

“I summon _Metaphys Summoner_!”

**Metaphys Summoner – [Level 4 – LIGHT – Wyrm/Effect – ATK: 300/DEF: 400]**

The small snake like creature glared at Blaze Falcon with faintly glowing eyes, before Yamabe held his hand out and announced:

“Next, its effect activates. Since I normal summoned Metaphys Summoner this turn, I can special summon another Metaphys monster from my deck!” a card slides out of his deck and he places it on his duel disk “So here comes, _Metaphys Enchanter_!”

**Metaphys Enchanter – [Level 6 – LIGHT – Spellcaster/Effect – ATK: 1500/DEF: 200]**

The elegantly dressed sorcerer seemed to be preparing some kind of magic already, which only made Yamabe smirk widely.

“Since I special summoned Metaphys Enchanter, I can Ritual Summon any Metaphys Ritual monster from my deck that would usually be summoned using the Ritual Spell _Metaphys Starlight_!” Yamabe’s smirk widens even more before he held up a Ritual monster “So now, I cast Metaphys Summoner and Enchanter into the flames as sacrifices!”

A glowing rune appeared on the ground beneath his feet, its light growing until Yamabe was overshadowed by it. His two monsters turned into yellow flames that dove into the rune, causing its light to explode outwards.

“Ancient phantom warriors, cast your remaining spirits into the fire and from the ashes a new creature is born! **I Ritual Summon!** ” Yamabe declared.

The light began to snake out, taking on a long, serpentine form. Then, it stretched more, revealing huge wings. Eventually, as Yamabe declared the new monsters name the light cast itself aside revealing a draconic creature with yellow and white scales and gleaming purple eyes.

“Take a good long look, this is my _Ancient Metaphys Drakon_!”

**Ancient Metaphys Drakon – [Level 10 – LIGHT – Wyrm/Ritual/Effect – ATK: 2300/DEF: 2000]**

“When Ancient Metaphys Drakon is Ritual summoned I can add a Ritual spell from my deck to my hand, so I’ll add Metaphys Starlight” Yamabe switches said card with another in his hand “Next, I’ll activate the continuous spell _Asymmetaphys_!”

Shay tilts his head curiously, tapping his duel disk to read the card when Yamabe doesn’t bother to continue.

 _Hm…I can see plenty of ways he’d use these effects…and he must’ve added Metaphys Starlight to his hand because he needed it to activate Asymmetaphys at all…_ his eyes narrow behind his tinted glasses _Whatever he_ thinks _he’s gonna pull off. It won’t work._

“With that, I’ll end my turn” Yamabe continues before nodding at Ootomo “Go”

Ootomo quickly draws.

“Let’s finish this guy off!”

“I’d like to see you try, _Fusioner_ ” Shay replies.

\-----------------------------------

 **_Julia Krystal  
_ ** _LP: 1600_

_Field:_

**Gem-Knight Emerald – [Level 4 – EARTH – Rock/Effect – ATK: 1800/DEF: 800]  
One face down card.**

**_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 4000_

_Field:_

**Frightfur Sabre-Tooth – [Level 8 – DARK – Fiend/Fusion/Effect – ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000]**

\--

Sora took a good minute before he continued his turn, seemingly deep in thought. He’d decided to duel Julia because if she really _was_ the top Fusion duelist of LID’s Youth Division then she’d be a good test, just to see what the average strength of LID is.

He’d been…disappointed to say the least.

He was going easy on her for sure, he went easy on Sylvio and on Yuya. There was no need to break that little tradition yet. But jeez, even Yuya had pushed him to bring out his Frightfurs when he had initially intended to stick with just the Fluffal Fusions.

Still, that didn’t mean he intended to underestimate her. Or actually _win_ the duel at all. Just play around with her a little. Of course, if she kept playing the way she was maybe he’d win just to irritate her.

“When Frightfur Sabre-Tooth is fusion summoned I can target a Frightfur monster in my graveyard and special summon it! So returning will be Frightfur Wolf”

A void opened in the floor, allowing Frightfur Wolf to leap out and return to the battle.

“Next, for as long as Frightfur Sabre-Tooth is on the field all Frightfur Monsters I control gain 400 atk.”

**Frightfur Wolf [ATK: 2000 + 400 = 2400]**

**Frightfur Sabre-Tooth [ATK: 2400 + 400 = 2800]**

“And just to top it off, because Frightfur Sabre-Tooth was fusion summoned using _four_ monsters. It can’t be destroyed by battle or by card effects” Sora explained calmly “Battle! Frightfur Wolf, attack Julia’s Gem-Knight Emerald!”

Julia doesn’t move, taking the attack as Gem-Knight Emerald was destroyed.

 **_Julia Krystal  
_ ** _LP: 1600 - > 1000_

“Now!” Sora declared, pointing at Julia “Frightfur Sabre-Tooth, finish her off! Attack directly!”

Julia quickly holds her hand out to her face down card.

“Reveal Face Down! _Fragment Fusion_!”

Sora gave a quick sideways smirk, sucking on his lollipop a little before pulling it out of his mouth and tilting his head.

“I thought as much”

Julia gritted her teeth and the confident comment and continued.

“I can banish from my graveyard the monsters I need to fusion summon any one Gem-Knight fusion monster, allowing me to special summon it from the extra deck!” she says quickly “This counts as a Fusion summon and during my end phase I have to destroy that monster!”

Sora twirled his hand a little.

“Well, get on with it then!”

“I banish Gem-Knight Emerald, Gem-Knight Iolite and Gem-Knight Garnet from my graveyard!” she stretched her hands out as ghostly versions of the three monsters appeared and swirled into a vortex of light “Red Fire of Truth, Pale Blue gem of Compassion, Gleaming green knight of good fortune! Together your brilliance will forge a blinding new brightness!”

She quickly clasped her hands together as the light became overpowering.

“ **Fusion Summon!** Reveal yourself, my _Gem-Knight Master Diamond_!”

**Gem-Knight Master Diamond – [Level 9 -DARK – Rock/Fusion/Effect – ATK: 2900/DEF: 2500]**

“My Gem-Knight Emerald may not have been able to stand up to your Frightfurs, but with 2900 attack points, Gem-Knight Master Diamond certainly does!”

Sora nods a couple times, humming slightly as he puts the remainder of his lollipop back in his mouth.

“…A replay occurs” he begins.

Julia smirks, certain he intends to call off his attack…

At least she was certain until he ran towards one of the pillars in the corridor, leaping onto it and using that pillar to spring-board onto the opposite one. Snagging an action card caught on it and landing on the ground without even a flinch.

“And my attack continues!” he finishes before sliding the card into his duel disk “Action Spell: _Erosion_! During this battle phase I can lower your monster’s attack points by 500!”

**Gem-Knight Master Diamond [ATK: 2900 – 500 = 2400]**

Julia paled considerably, taking a very, _very_ uncomfortable step back as Frightfur Sabre-Tooth charged forward. Biting hard into Master Diamond and soon enough, the powerful Gem-Knight burst into pixels.

 **_Julia Krystal  
_ ** _LP: 1000 - > 600_

She’d survived only from the use of Fragment Fusion…she couldn’t bare to think of what may have happened if _she didn’t_ lay that card down the previous turn.

After the scolding Dipper got for losing, she certainly didn’t want to the be the one who made the Chairwoman’s plan fail.

“Well, that’s it for now” Sora says calmly “I’m done playing for this turn. Your move”

Julia sighs.

She draws and begs that she gets just the _right_ card to give her a chance to wipe out Sora…

\-----------------------------------------------

The dark duelist observed the next summon and couldn’t help but back away from the building. He knew that – at least for the time being – there was no real danger here, real as the solid vision action duels were, clearly Sora was keeping his full ability in secret. Holding back.

For now, the innocent Standard duelists were safe.

It was more important that he left and told Shay, even as much as he wanted to stay and watch to see even a fraction of what Sora was capable of…well, first he knew Shay wouldn’t stop attacking LID duelists until he had indisputable proof they were innocent or a different target.

Currently a different target was a much easier thing for the duelist to find for Shay…but secondly…

The fire wasn’t ceasing, it was growing stronger and stronger by the second. Spreading from his heart and pulsing through every vein in his body. Every time he even looked in Sora’s direction, he couldn’t help but see flashes of the things he…his _home_ had been through. The suffering, the destruction…to him, it seemed all these things were etched on Sora’s face.

The glee of his attackers too…that was something he couldn’t just _pretend_ wasn’t so obviously there in every word Sora spoke, in every action he took, in every monster he summoned.

After all, what good-natured duelist could ever bare to put their innocent monsters through such a horrific transformation…?

The Dark Duelist could see it, it was terror on those poor mice as they got forcibly transformed into that freakish fusion…

A growl echoed in his mind and he glanced at his dragon, it was as if the growl only spurred on the fire in his blood. It was as if his dragon responded to his feelings of disgust and hatred and encouraged them.

Had he been dueling…well, he didn’t want to imagine what that simple growl might’ve done to him…

Suddenly Dark Rebellion let out a low whine, the duelist sighed a little smiling down at his monster.

“I know…I know, you don’t mean to be like this my friend…I don’t either…come on. It’s not gonna do either of us any good to sit here getting all riled up by this Fusioner. We’ll return to see the outcome later”

He slid Dark Rebellion into his deck box then turned running off to find Shay. The further away he was from this duel, the sooner he found Shay…the better.

\----------------------------------------------

“I summon _Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!_ ” Ootomo declares.

**Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss – [Level 3 – DARK – Fiend/Effect – ATK: 1300/DEF: 700]**

Ootomo grabs the card from his hand that he drew at the start of the turn and slides it into his duel disk.

“I activate the continuous spell, _Twilight of the Burning Abyss_! As long as this card is in play, Burning Abyss monsters can’t be destroyed by card effects. And since I control a Burning Abyss monster I can special summon a Burning Abyss monster from my deck that’s one level higher than the highest level monster on my field!”

Shay looks to Libic then back to Ootomo. That meant a level 4 monster. What was he planning…?

Ootomo pulls a card from his deck and slides it onto the duel disk.

“I special summon, _Higeto, Guardian of the Burning Abyss_!”

**Higeto, Guardian of the Burning Abyss – [Level 4 – DARK – Fiend/Effect – ATK: 1300/DEF: 400]**

“With Higeto, I can change the whole outcome of this duel!”

“My, you certainly sound confident” Shay says calmly “enough talk. Prove you can back it up”

“Oh I intend to!” Ootomo holds a hand out to Higeto “Higeto’s effect lets me fusion summon without access to a Fusion card! So I’ll fuse Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss with Higeto, Guardian of the Burning Abyss!”

The two monsters lost their form and swirled together in a vortex of light behind Ootomo as he stretched his arms out wide.

“Monstrous denizens of the Abyss, reforge yourselves in its fire and merge your power together!” He clasps his hands together tightly “ **I Fusion Summon!** Reveal yourself! _Akala, Empress of the Burning Abyss!_ ”

**Akala, Empress of the Burning Abyss – [Level 9 – LIGHT – Fairy/Fusion/Effect – ATK: 2600/DEF: 2000]**

“Alright, battle phase!”

Shay blinked in surprise, but…Akala was weaker than Blaze Falcon…he quickly tapped his duel disk, reading the Fusion monster’s effect.

_Ah…I see…heh, nice try._

“When Akala battles another special summoned monster, I can decrease that monster’s attack points by 500 for every face-up Burning Abyss card I control until the end of the battle phase!” Ootomo announced confidently.

**Blaze Falcon [ATK: 3000 – 1000 (500x2) = 2000]**

“Now, Akala is stronger than your Blaze Falcon and when it’s destroyed your remaining 200 life points will be wiped out! Go Akala, Empress of the Burning Abyss! Wipe out Raidraptor – Blaze Falcon”

Shay shakes his head in disappointment. Tapping his duel disk.

“I activate Raptor’s Revolt’s final effect! If the monster that I’ve equipped with this card would be destroyed by battle, I can destroy Raptor’s Revolt instead to save my monster and negate the damage!”

**Blaze Falcon [ATK: 2000 - > 1000]**

“W-Well, _fine._ ” Ootomo huffed “holding on I guess, but now your monster is too weak to take out our two monsters”

Yamabe glanced at Ootomo.

“Have you forgotten? Blaze Falcon still has one overlay unit, it could use that to activate its effect!”

“But Twilight of the Burning Abyss-”

“Yes, but Ancient Metaphys Drakon would be destroyed by Blaze Falcon’s effect! Then he could attack directly and wipe my life points out Ootomo!”

In actual fact, Yamabe had only one back up plan to protect his and Ootomo’s life points but he was hoping not to need it.

Shay chuckles darkly, looking at the ground.

“Well…in actual fact, I won’t be using that effect…it seem you’ve both forgotten. For as long as Raidraptor – Blaze Falcon possesses an overlay unit…it can attack directly. Completely bypassing your monsters and aiming directly for your life points”

Yamabe and Ootomo flinched, looking at each other then back to Shay.

“S-Still” Yamabe says, clearing his throat “You can only attack one of us, because you destroyed Raptor’s Revolt. One of us will still have a chance of taking you out”

“Well, we’ll see won’t we hm?” He looks to Ootomo “end your turn already”

Ootomo sighs, well there isn’t exactly anything else he can do now.

“I…I end my turn”

“I draw!” Shay announces, looking down at the card in his hand “Seems my deck shares my sentiment. This duel ends _now_.”

\--------------------------------------------

Declan had been observing the Dark Duelist throughout the remained of Yuya and Dipper’s duel. He had no idea who was dueling _now_ but whatever was going on had the Xyz duelist looking extremely disturbed and panicked.

Eventually he decided to go back to the other work he had to focus on but keep the feed up on one of his two computer screens.

It wasn’t more than a few minutes later when his assistant ran in again.

“I’m sorry to interrupt Mr. President, but we detected powerful summoning signals across the city”

Declan looked up from his work and nods.

“Go on”

“Firstly, Fusion coming from You Show”

“Sora must be dueling then…” Declan hummed, that explained the Dark Duelist’s behaviour then.

If their guests really were Xyzians then it isn’t surprising witnessing fusion summoning disturbs them like that. The assistant seemed nervous.

“We also detected another powerful Xyz summoning signal. Later followed up by Rank-Up-Xyz summoning”

Declan’s eyes widened.

“Rank-Up Xyz Evolution huh? Unsurprising…this would be the other one then…where is the duel taking place and who is he dueling?”

The assistant held out his tablet, revealing video footage of Shay dueling Ootomo and Yamabe. Declan sighed, adjusting his glasses.

“Of course, well then…we’d best stop this. It looks like our guest is easily winning and we don’t want anymore of our students hurt”

“Do you want me to send some of our senior duelists to handle it?”

“Ye-”

He cut himself off, noticing from the corner of his eye that the Dark Duelist was no longer outside of You Show. He searched around and realised that he was nearing the location of his ally’s duel, whether he was aware of it or not.

“No, Nevermind. Let’s leave this to the other Xyzian. He’ll be there fairly soon anyway”

“Are you sure that’s wise Mr. President?” the assistant asked, “I’m just concerned, he attacked Sylvio Sawatari did he not?”

“He didn’t _attack_ Sylvio. Look at the damage this Xyzian is causing, compared to the damage the other one caused. They both give off equally powerful Xyz summoning energy…no the duelist who duelled Sylvio gives off _stronger_ Xyz energy.” Declan explained “The only reason Sylvio is _not hurt_ is because this Xyzian didn’t want to hurt him and since then we haven’t detected a single summon from him”

He looks back down to his work.

“I suspect he’s come looking for his friend, probably aware of what he’s been up to and I’m willing to trust that his intention is to stop these attacks, not help his friend commit them. Besides, I see no reason to intervene now and likely paint ourselves as enemies. We need allies in a time like this so every step must be taken with caution”

“But…what makes you so sure sir? What if he’s just…playing a different kind of game?”

Declan hummed in thought, before responding.

“Well, I’ll admit…my reason for trusting this other duelist is…a rather unconventional one…” he sighs, adjusting his glasses again “…Ootomo and Yamabe seemed _certain_ he was Yuya Sakaki. While we know this isn’t the case, the fact that he was similar enough to pass as Yuya indicates to me that he – like Yuya - likely doesn’t mean anyone any harm, I suppose part of my decision is because of that reasoning.”

“I see…”

“But no matter my reasoning, the decision stands. For now, we will merely observe this encounter”

\--------------------------------------------------

Zuzu stared in surprise.

“Man, Yuya. Sora’s acrobatic ability gives _you_ a run for your money”

Yuya nods silently before clearing his throat and saying in a confident voice.

“Yeah, but I know my way around action fields better than anyone! I mean, I did _win_ our duel remember?”

Zuzu rolled her eyes.

“Keep boasting Yuya, I might decide to bring my fan out again”

Neither noticed Henrietta look over curiously at Yuya’s declaration. He did mention that he’d beaten Sora earlier…though she couldn’t decide whether to be surprised or not, after all, coming from Yusho Sakaki’s son, such a feat didn’t seem as impossible.

Still, Declan had said Yuya was only an average duelist…defeating someone like Sora at full strength…seemed…rather unlikely…

 _We shall see what he has to offer us then, if he can use this new ability of his to its full potential._ She looked back to the duel _Well, after we win our little challenge of course._

\---------------------------------------------------

Julia stared down at the card she drew then slides it into her duel disk.

“I play _Gem-Knight Revitalisation_!” she announces “Since I control no monsters, I can draw the top three cards of my deck and if any of them are Gem-Knights I can special summon them. The others go to my graveyard!”

Sora puts a hand on his hip looking curious.

“Ah, we’re relying on luck now!”

“Maybe” she draws the top three cards and looks at them, she looks visibly relieved “I get to special summon my _Gem-Knight Alexandrite_ and my _Gem-Knight Morganite_!”

**Gem-Knight Alexandrite – [Level 4 – EARTH – Rock/Effect – ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200]**

**Gem-Knight Morganite – [Level 5 – EARTH – Rock/Effect – ATK: 1400/DEF: 500]**

Sora smirks.

“Neither of those monsters can take out my Frightfurs, but I imagine you have a different reason for looking so confident” he taps his duel disk and goes silent for a minute before humming and nodding “thought as much, you’re about to Fusion summon again”

“Wow, you read me well” She replies sarcastically “Not as if Fusion is my main method or anything”

Sora chuckles, biting down on his lollipop a little.

“Your sarcasm is getting a little irritating”

“Your attitude is getting a little irritating”

“Can we just get on with this already?” Sora questions beginning to look bored.

“Whatever” Julia holds a hand out to the deep red warrior that is Gem-Knight Morganite. “Once per turn, I can banish any fusion spell from my graveyard and fusion summon a Gem-Knight monster from my extra deck using the monsters I control as materials!”

Alexandrite and Morganite swirl into lights beginning to merge behind her.

“I banish Fragment Fusion! Now!” she stretches her hands out “Magical rock of dark and light, merge with the stone guardian of inner strength and together your brilliance will forge a blinding new brightness! **I Fusion Summon**! _Gem-Knight Jadeite!_ ”

The green clad warrior was taller than her previous Gem-Knights and stood proud, its armour sparkled beautifully and it glared down Sora’s monsters.

**Gem-Knight Jadeite – [Level 8 – EARTH – Rock/Fusion/Effect – ATK: 2500/DEF: 1000]**

“You see Sora, my monsters have a real shine, real polish. You and your little band of plush toy rejects only serve to frighten little children” Julia says confidently.

Sora tilts his head before pulling his lollipop out dropping it on the ground and stepping on it, breaking what little of it was left. He let an uncharacteristically sinister smirk slip.

“So…you then?”

Julia grits her teeth then shakes her head and flips her hair.

“Keep talking candy devil” she replies “I’ll wipe that smirk off your face with this next move, when Gem-Knight Jadeite is fusion summoned I can special summon 1 level 4 or lower monster from my graveyard. Returning is Gem-Knight Alexandrite!”

**Gem-Knight Alexandrite – [Level 4 – EARTH – Rock/Effect – ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200]**

She looks over to Jadeite, as it began to glow faintly.

“Now, Gem-Knight Jadeite can show you its other power. For ever Gem-Knight monster I control, it gains 200 attack points!”

**Gem-Knight Jadeite – [ATK: 2500 + 200 = 2700]**

“Now! Its time, battle!” she declares “Gem-Knight Alexandrite attacks your Frightfur Wolf!”

“What are you thinking!?” Sora retorts in shock “Alexandrite has no where near enough attack to take out my Wolf!”

Julia just flips her hair and turns, racing towards an action card behind her before sliding it into her duel disk.

“Action Spell: _Polish_ , it increases the attack points of one of my monsters by 1000 until the end of the battle phase!”

**Gem-Knight Alexandrite – [ATK: 1800 - > 2800}**

Sora snickered slightly and made a show of racing towards an action but failing to grab it in time. Alexandrite races towards Frightfur Wolf and sends it flying into one of the walls of the crystal corridor. It burst into pixels and with it, some of Sora’s life points.

 **_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 4000 - > 3600_

“Well, you’ve still gotta take out my Frightfur Sabre-Tooth and with its 2800 attack points I wish you luck” he slides the action card into his hand for later.

“Won’t need it! Reveal face down!” Julia announces “ _Gem Enhancement!_ I tribute my Gem-Knight Alexandrite to special summon a Gem-Knight from my graveyard!”

Alexandrite suddenly bursts into pixels, a smoky black portal opening where it had been. Much to Sora’s surprise Gem-Knight Master Diamond rises from the depths.

**Gem-Knight Master Diamond – [Level 9 – DARK – Rock/Fusion/Effect – ATK: 2900 – DEF: 2500]**

“As you can see, I chose Gem-Knight Master Diamond” she smirks “And it gains 100 attack points for every ‘Gem-‘ monster in my graveyard! That’s 200 to add onto its already high attack!”

**Gem-Knight Master Diamond – [ATK: 2900 + 200 = 3100]**

“Now Gem-Knight Master Diamond attack Frightfur Sabre-tooth!”

 **_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 3600 - > 3300_

“Impressive”

“You should be, this duels mine Sora. Because now my Gem-Knight Jadeite is going to wipe you out!”

“It doesn’t have quite enough attack points for that, attack me directly and I’ll still have 600 life points left”

Julia then does a few acrobatic moves of her own grabbing an action card.

“Action Spell: Polish! You’ll remember what this does!”

“1000 extra attack points meaning…”

“Gem-Knight Jadeite has 3700 attack points!” Julia finishes “this duel is as good as done!”

Sora glances down at the action card he grabbed earlier. Evasion.

 _I could easily negate this attack and finish her off next turn._ He glanced at Henrietta from the corner of his eye, she seemed more interested in watching him than watching Julia…

_Still…why spoil all my surprises in such a meaningless duel…?_

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dark duelist leapt across the rooftops, hoping to get as far away from that duel as possible and find Shay in the process.

Find Shay he did.

He leapt down when he saw the familiar sight of Blaze Falcon in the air above the buildings. Concern was already building within him; he didn’t like this…not one little bit. He peered around the corner and saw the familiar faces of Ootomo and Yamabe.

 _Those are two of Sawatari’s friends right…?_ He closed his eyes for a moment before sighing _and one of them is a Fusion user too…? Great, Shay’s probably far too riled up to get through to now…_

He looked back around, staring up at Blaze Falcon. Pure, unadulterated rage was radiating off it in waves, the falcon was furious. Likely a reflection of Shay’s own feelings. He groaned faintly, well nothing more to be done but let Shay finish the duel.

Dark Rebellion growled irritably, the duelist glanced down at the deck box with a raised eyebrow.

 _What…?_ He pauses as the dragon seems to whine _no; I am not getting involved in another duel with LID Students._

He runs a hand through his hair as his monster complains again. Expressing concern for what Shay might do to the LID kids, that just makes him stare at the deck box blankly in disbelief.

 _Don’t give me that. You just want to battle again; you couldn’t care less what Shay does to them._ It whines again _Don’t lie and If you’re trying to mentally pout, stop it. It’s not working._

It snorts in annoyance, sounding offended.

_Look, I don’t particularly feel like getting rammed by Blaze Falcon because Shay didn’t see me in his rage. Best to wait till the duels already over. Don’t worry, I promise you’ll get your battle eventually my friend._

Dark Rebellion goes silent, He can’t be sure if its because his monster was satisfied with that answer or whether he was being given the silent treatment now. His thoughts were interrupted by Shay however.

“Alright, I summon my _Raidraptor – Shining Lanius!_ ”

**Raidraptor – Shining Lanius – [Level 4 – DARK – Winged beast/Effect – ATK: 1400/DEF: 300]**

The duelist peeks around again to watch. Though he wasn’t looking forward to witnessing the kind of beat down Shay would bring upon the two teens he had no choice unless he wanted to miss Shay’s actions afterwards…

And he didn’t want to risk missing them.

“When Shining Lanius is on the field and I control a Raidraptor Xyz monster, I can tribute my new lanius to grant my Xyz monster a second attack this battle phase!”

Yamabe and Ootomo share looks, this wasn’t good.

“Battle! Now! Blaze Falcon, attack them both directly!”

Yamabe holds up the Metaphys Starlight card in his hand.

“The effect of Asymmetaphys activates! Once per turn I can banish a Metaphys card in my hand and draw a card! So I banish Metaphys Starlight!” he slides the card into his duel disk and draws then holds his hand out to the flipped up picture of Asymmetaphys “Now, since a Metaphys card in my possession was banished I can turn all monsters that aren’t Metaphys monsters to defence position! Meaning you can no longer attack!”

Shay looks down then scoffs.

“Pathetic. Shining Lanius’ effect activates, while its in the graveyard if you activate an effect that would effect a Raidraptor monster I control I can banish Shining Lanius and negate your effect!” He announces “So Blaze Falcon can still attack!”

The duelist sighs.

_Those two seem to know their stuff but they’re nowhere near a match for Shay…_

“Go Blaze Falcon! Rain down hell on these pathetic duelists! **_Electrostatic Volt!_** ”

Blaze Falcon surrounded itself with flames and lightning, soaring into the sky and letting out an ear-piercing screech. Ootomo and Yamabe could do nothing more than watch in horror as the mighty falcon raced towards them, trailing fire behind it as it did so.

The Falcon knocked both duelists flying into the ally wall and they collapsed to the ground with pained yelps.

 **_Ootomo  
_ ** _LP: 500 - > 0_

 **_Yamabe  
_ ** _LP: 500 - > 0_

**_Winner: Shay Obsidian_ **

“God…that was almost too easy…” he stepped forward, duel disk at the ready when a hand suddenly grabbed his other arm “Let go of me!”

He was about to elbow whoever it was when he met the steely grey gaze of his best friend. His eyes narrowed slightly, moving from where his friend’s grip was tight around his arm and back to his friend’s eyes.

“Enough Shay. You already won.”

“I’m not _finished with them yet_ ”

“Yes. _You are._ ”

Ootomo and Yamabe looked up in panic as they tried to find some strength in them to stands. Yamabe blurted out:

“You! You’re the guy who attacked Sylvio!”

“A-Are you actually Yuya? Or are you someone else?” Ootomo added.

The duelist sighed, shaking his head.

“No, I’m not this Yuya kid and I don’t appreciate another being accused of something that they were clearly not responsible for” he replies coldly “Maybe leave Akaba Declan that little message when you both run along back to LID”

The two teens – realising this was him telling them to leave – forced themselves to stand up and run. Shay yelled after them, pulling away from his friend to rush forward only to find an elbow being driven into his stomach.

He yelped in shock, dropping to the ground and holding his stomach. Tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. At the very least, he could be glad his friend hadn’t decided to like…knock him out or something, he knew that was definitely a possibility.

“Chill out Shay”

Shay coughs slightly and looks up at the dark clad teen.

“Was that – ” he coughs again “Completely necessary…?”

“Would you have listened if I politely reminded you that LID weren’t our enemies?”

Shay huffs, looking away. His friend just nods.

“Exactly, see? You know I’m right” he groans, putting his hands on his hips “Seriously Shay, I already told you that these LID students are just innocent duelists. Why must you keep on this ridiculously violent crusade of yours?”

He stands up slowly, wincing at the pulsing pain from where his friend’s elbow had connected.

“Because this was _our plan_! Or have you forgotten…?”

“The plan was – and I quote – go to Standard and investigate into Declan Akaba and the Leo Duel School. If LID was a threat, we’d take em’ out, if they weren’t we’d leave them alone. Declan is our top priority”

“Exactly and I’m luring him out!”

“By attacking and turning his students and staff into _cards_ Shay.” He replies glaring Shay down “Look me in the eyes and tell me you weren’t about to do that to those two”

Shay gritted his teeth and looked away, receiving an exasperated sigh from his friend in reaction.

“…honestly…this is the last time I’m going to remind you Shay. We’re here not to hurt innocent kids, but to get Declan and improve our chances of finding Lulu. Please, stop hurting these Standard Duelists…we’ve already seen enough fighting, I honestly would prefer avoiding any more”

Shay huffs, mumbling something under his breath. His friend raised an eyebrow.

“What was that…?”

“…You keep pretending you don’t have the stomach for war” he repeats, his voice dripping with rage “you look me in the eyes acting all confident like you’re on the moral high ground. Telling me not to card people, yet you’re no better than I am”

His friend flinches taking a nervous step back and shaking his head.

“Shay I…I don’t want to think about that…I don’t even…I don’t-”

“You don’t remember” he finishes “Yeah, yeah, I know that’s what you’ve been saying for a year now. But part of me wonders if you’re lying”

He shakes his head again.

“No, Shay I’m serious I don’t remember even an inch of what happened. All I know is what my brother told me and well…” he shrugs and chuckles weakly “he didn’t seem inclined to tell me much…”

“Still…you can’t take the moral high ground”

“You can’t use something I don’t remember against me. And might I add that I haven’t done anything of the sort since…?”

“That we’re aware of” Shay replies, turning on his heel to leave.

“Shay, come on. Now you’re just acting ridiculous”

“I just want my little sister back…” he mutters “I need some space, catch you tonight”

“Shay wa-”

Too late. He was already off, the duelist groaned leaning against the alleyway wall for a minute. Dark Rebellion’s growl echoed in his mind, sounding just as irritated as Shay was.

“Come on…not you too. I don’t need both of you on my back.”

The dragon huffed; its meaning clear.

_‘Why is it you’re the only one who wants to hold back?’_

“We need to be making friends not enemies, we have enough enemies”

Dark Rebellion’s next growl was more questioning, the poor creature was confused by his duelist’s behaviour.

“I…Dark Rebellion…yes I’m angry. Of course I want to stop them, but I…” he frowns, fiddling with the red scarf tied around his arm “I just…don’t want to hurt anyone anymore…”

\------------------------------------

“Seems I was correct” Declan comments “Good.”

He looked up to his assistant, quickly adjusting his glasses.

“Keep a close eye on the other one, Shay I believe, he’ll likely won’t stop just because his friend intervened”

“Understood Mr. President”

Declan peered at the second screen again, watching as the Dark Duelist sat down as if to try and recover from the minor argument.

“I’ll monitor the other one for now, also I want you to check up on Yamabe and Ootomo. See how they’re doing after that attack, the damage left in that alleyway is proof enough that they could be injured”

“Will do. Is that all?”

“For now, yes”

The assistant nods and walks out, Declan returns his focus to the screens. He figured that soon enough he should check in with how the duels at You Show were going. But for now, he needed to plan for how he’s going to handle the Xyzian situation…

He needed to meet up with them, before any more of his students or staff got hurt. However, he also had to be sure that he was cautious about how he interacted with them. Especially with that Shay character…

“We’ll see how things play out…”

\------------------------------------------------

“Go! Gem-Knight Jadeite! Attack Sora directly and wipe out the rest of his life points!”

Sora just smirked at the oncoming attack, taking it as his life points depleted.

 **_Sora Perse  
_ ** _LP: 3300 - > 0_

**_Winner: Julia Krystal_ **

Julia smirked.

“Well, guess you’re not as tough as you thought you were Sora”

Sora shrugs before Henrietta called out:

“Julia! Be a good winner and congratulate your opponent on the duel”

Julia huffed and walked up to Sora holding her hand out.

“It was a good match” she says reluctantly.

Sora snickers.

“Yeah, I guess” he takes a step forward, not shaking her hand but removing his lollipop from his mouth and whispering something low enough for only her to ear.

Julia’s eyes widened as Sora turned with a smug smirk on his face before it dropped into a disappointed one and he called out to the You Show kids.

“Sorry guys, guess I got overconfident…it’s up to you now Zuzu”

He walked inside the observation room with Julia just behind with a stunned expression. Yuya pats Sora’s shoulder with a soft smile.

“Its okay Sora, you put up one hell of a fight!” he looks at Zuzu “Guess you’re up”

Zuzu nods slowly as her eyes switch over to Kit Blade. She fiddled with her bracelet nervously as the younger kids all crowded around her.

“You can do it Zuzu!” Ally says excitedly.

“Show that LID kid what for!” Tate added.

“Ya, one more win and we’re safe”

Zuzu nods again while Kit walks over one hand on the sword on his back.

“Heh, you look all shaky. I think this’ll be an easy victory” he chuckles “But hey, who knows. You may surprise me”

Yuya gently grabs her arm and draws her attention, he gives her a bright smile.

“Hey Zuzu?”

“Y-Yeah…?”

“You can do this Zuzu!”

She stares for a minute before bursting out into laughter. Yuya blinks in surprise.

“W-What…? Why are you laughing!?”

“Isn’t that exactly what _I_ told _you_?”

“Well, I’m not good with words and all and what you said…” he blushed before folding his arms “Well, it’s the same thing I would say anyway!”

Zuzu chuckled.

“Well, I appreciate it Yuya” she looks back at Kit “You ready to go?”

“Always”

While the two headed outside for their match, Julia frowned seeming deep in thought. Henrietta looked at her with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"Julia? Is something the matter? I would've thought you'd be proud of your victory?"  
  
Julia forces a confident smile, nodding.  
  
"I am, just tired now"   
  
Henrietta seemed to accept the answer and looked away, Julia just shot a subtle look to Sora. His whispered words ringing in her mind.  
  
 _"Just so you know, I let you win"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how these duels turned out, but I hope they seem cool! ^^  
> I'm really enjoying writing this fic so far! Feel free to leave your thoughts on the episode below! 
> 
> (I think that's all the custom cards lol XD)  
> \----------------------------------  
> CUSTOM CARDS:  
> \----------------------------------  
> Shay's cards:  
> \---  
> Raidraptor - Shining Lanius - [Level 4 – DARK – Winged Beast/Effect: During the main phase 1, if you control a “Raidraptor” Xyz monster, tribute this card and that monster may make two attacks during the next battle phase. If your opponent activates a card effect would effect any “Raidraptor” monster you control while this card is in your graveyard. Banish this card and negate that effect. ATK: 1400/DEF: 300]
> 
> \----  
> Yamabe's Cards:  
> \--  
> Metaphys Summoner - [Level 4 - LIGHT - Wyrm/Effect: When you normal summon this monster you can special summon 1 ‘Metaphys’ monster from your deck. ATK: 300/DEF: 400]
> 
> Metaphys Enchanter - [Level 6 – LIGHT – Spellcaster/Effect: If this card was special summoned this turn you may ritual summon 1 “Metaphys” monster from your deck, using any cards on your field as materials, treating this card as the Ritual Spell “Metaphys Starlight”. ATK: 1500/DEF: 200]
> 
> Ancient Metaphys Drakon - [Level 10 - LIGHT - Wyrm/Ritual/Effect: When this card is Ritual Summoned add 1 Ritual Spell card from your deck to your hand. When this card is sent to the graveyard by battle or card effects, add 1 "Nephthys" or "Metaphys" monster from your deck to your hand. ATK: 2300/DEF: 2000]
> 
> Metaphys Starlight - [Ritual Spell - Ritual summon 1 "Metaphys" Ritual monster, using cards in your hand or field whose levels equal or exceed 10 as materials]
> 
> \----  
> Ootomo's cards:  
> \---  
> Twilight of the Burning Abyss - [Continuous spell – “Burning Abyss” monsters you control cannot be targeted for Card effects. Once per turn, if you control a “Burning Abyss” monster you can special summon 1 “Burning Abyss” monster from your deck that is one level higher than the highest level monster on your field.]
> 
> Higeto, Guardian of the Burning Abyss - [Level 4 – DARK – Fiend/Effect: Once per turn, fusion summon 1 “Burning Abyss” monster using monsters you control as materials. ATK: 1300/DEF: 400]
> 
> Akala, Empress of the Burning Abyss - [Level 9 – LIGHT – Fairy/Fusion/Effect: 2 “Burning Abyss” monsters. Once per turn, when this monster battles another special summoned monster decrease that monster’s attack points by 500 for every face-up “Burning Abyss” card you control until the end of the battle phase. ATK: 2600/DEF: 2000]  
> \----  
> Julia's Cards:  
> \---  
> Gem-Knight Revitalization - [Spell – If you control no monsters, excavate the top 3 cards of your deck, if any of these are “Gem-Knight” monsters, special summon them, send the other cards to the graveyard]
> 
> Gem-Knight Morganite - [Level 5 - EARTH - Rock/Effect: Once per turn, you can banish any "fusion" spell from your graveyard and fusion summon any 1 "Gem-Knight" monster using monsters on your field as materials. ATK: 1400/DEF: 500]
> 
> Gem-Knight Jadeite - [Level 8 – EARTH – Rock/Fusion/Effect: 2 “Gem-Knight” monsters. When this is fusion summoned, special summon 1 level 4 or lower monster from your graveyard. For every “Gem-Knight” monster you control this card gains 200 attack point. ATK: 2500/DEF: 1000]  
> \----  
> Action cards:  
> \---  
> Erosion - [Action Spell - Lower one of your opponent’s monster’s attack points by 500 for this battle phase only]
> 
> Polish - [Action Spell - Increases the attack points of one monster on your field by 1000 until the end of the battle phase]


End file.
